Caramel
by Trakyan
Summary: The flames raged around me, the sky was black and speckled with clouds of grey ash, huge pillars of smoke rose from the straw roofs of the huts around me. I was alone in this chaos...
1. It All Goes Up In Flames

_**It All Goes Up In Flames**_

_The flames raged around me, the sky was black and speckled with clouds of grey ash, huge pillars of smoke rose from the straw roofs of the huts around me. I was alone in this chaos. My eyes flicked around me to look for danger, a reaction -or instinct- that had imbedded itself in me through the years. A lone charmeleon walked stepped out of one of the burning huts, a black bag of spoils over his left shoulder and a infant child in his right claw. A sadness ignited itself within me, I knew he was one of the ones responsible for this, a belt hung from his left shoulder to his waist with a buckle covering his heart with the emblem of two fangs crossed over a coin. I wanted to do something, to bring him and the others to justice, but I wasn't the type to fight and my skills in offence were dulled by a lifetime of neglect. _

The suns morning rays crept up my face as they had done for the last thirteen seasons. With a furry paw I rubbed my sleepy eyes before I even opened them. The need to stay lying soon faded, I had never been able to sleep with light shining on me, I had never liked the pounding heat of the suns rays either.

_I turned away and fled, he could hold the infant against me, there was nothing I could do._

My ears twitched as I took in the surrounding sounds, it was silent aside from the ominous wind gusts that whistled through the alleyways and through the straw of the roofs. A puffy tail raised itself behind me, its white tip wavering in the gentle breeze that found its way to me.

_I darted through the maze of alleyways and paths between the burning huts, leaping through the flames that had consumed the buildings. Nothing could keep with me here, let alone fit through the places I could._

I padded forward a few steps on my cat like feet without opening my eyes. I now felt the cool wind as it sent ripples along my fur, it caught in my long ears and tickled their insides, especially my left which was slight longer than its twin. I took a sniff, the wind smelled of the dirt that paved the roads, of the soft moss that speckled the mountains the village was built upon and the scent of the rocks damp from the nights thin frost.

_I burst through a final wall of fire and yellow, out into the small courtyard of our village, it was the small space between the gates of the wooden walls and the chief's domain, the ground was paved with cobble stones to differentiate it from the roads._

I opened my eyes to the scene before me; wooden huts topped with straw roofs, narrow alleyways and paths wound between them from road to road from the constant short cutting done by the residents who didn't wish to use the wider roads for one reason or another. Behind me I knew was a reasonably large shelter, wooden support beams ran up the walls and across the ceiling, holding the planks together. The shelter itself was filled with firewood stacked against one wall, food stocks were stacked in an opposite corner and other supplied such as the hay I had used as a bed were scattered in various places. I woke up from this sleepy state as the wind blew several locks of my caramel coloured fur into my eyes, my fur was slightly lighter than that of the rest of my kind who wore a more brown coat. I blew it out of the way with a breath from under my nose.

_The scene before me was the center of the chaos, the commanders of the invading force gathered, a purple scorpion, their leader. Around him his soldiers beat the captives into cages and bound them in chains, bodies littered the floor. I turned to flee, something clamped around my neck._

I looked down at the soft mane of white fur that covered my neck. I took a short moment to flatten the frizzier parts before looking down at my forepaws. A thick coat of caramel fur covered my whole body aside from my mane and the tip of my tail.

The word pokémon and that official stuff is © to game freak and Yada yada, anyways the text in _italics_ is sorta what's going to happen or what is happening and the normal text is a flash back, lets just say they are different times.

Anyways tell me _any_ errors you spot and I will fix them, any tips and improvements I can make too. The compliments are nice but writers thrive off the criticism.


	2. The Beginning

_**The Beginning**_

_It had been two days since the attack on the village, yet I could scarcely recall any of it. I was covered in cuts, bruises and gashes from the numerous assaults, on either side of my neck the painful sting of the gashes the drapion had left was a reminder that it was real. Of the few things I remembered one was the terror as he held me in front of him by my neck. With each passing day I grew weak from hunger and the poisons that tainted my blood. In those two days I had escaped the mountains and just reached the forest at its foot._

My vision began to sway again as it had been doing for the past few hours, I leaned against a tree for support. I struggled to recall how I escaped, nothing. The last I could recall was the terrorizing gaze of the drapion, a cold shiver went through my spine as I recalled the opal eyes staring at me, no mercy or regret for what he was doing. A sharp pain went through my chest and I let out an agonized cry, with each time those pains came they were worse, and I was getting weaker. I slumped against the tree and slowly slid to a sitting position.

"Huh?" came a startled voice in response to my loud cry. I was instantly on alert, all my pains temporarily gone. If I left myself the way I was I knew the feral pokémon of the forest would attack me, though the fact it spoke a _huh_ told me it wasn't wild, though that didn't relieve me, it could be sided with the drapion. I clumsily scrambled to my feet, flexing my shoulders and testing my weight on my feet. A figure emerged from behind a tree some five odd meters ahead of me, it was a riolu-a bi-pedal dog of sorts, its arms were completely blue aside from a metallic dome just ahead of the wrists, his head was blue with two points on top at either side, below booth of them hung a black appendage, a black mask of fur went around his eyes and along the top of his snout, the top of his torso was black and met the bottom, blue half in a spiked pattern, the blue looked like pair shorts and ended just above the knee to reveal slim legs with a long step, only the toes of which were used for stepping.

He turned his head to face me. My eyes flicked to his chest in search of the buckle that would be slung on a belt across his chest had he been in league with the drapion, in its place I saw a satchel. Plain brown and made from a tightly nit fabric then coated in combee wax to give it a sheen and protect it from the elements. He reached out as he took a step towards me, he seemed to want to help but I couldn't be sure. I tensed and let out what I could of a snarl, it came out as a violent coughing fit and my stomach tightened.

"Stay away!" I rasped. My throat was dry from not having anything to drink in the past days, this led to another coughing fit and I fell onto my underbelly. I looked up at the stranger's face, now a look of determination had fallen over it and he approached me swiftly, his feet making only the faintest of sounds even to my ears. I held my paw out in a weak resistance before he reached me. The pain struck me again and I let out another agonised cry, my paw dropped and I struggled against the wave of darkness that loomed over me. Another stab of pain, my head dropped, I fell unconscious.

...

Ok, the things in italics at the beginning will be like journal entries(though the things in italics in the last chapter are different) and a sort of summary to help the reader or fill in some gaps. Yes, it is intentional that the details are vague. The first chapter is just something to introduce the character and to inform the reader that a battle took place, the two separate times in that chapter are like say morning and dusk. Anyways the name of the species of the pokémon narrating will be revealed in the next chapter… _maybe…_ but I'm guessing its rather obvious (or maybe you just can't think of the pokémon while the description is in your head) anyways I'm debating over whether I should give the main character a partner, I probably will to keep off gender bias and all.

As usual please review, point out any errors and give me ideas or tips.


	3. Waking Up

_**Waking Up**_

_My mind had been rushing to make sense of the events, and still is. I think I found an ally and friend, but will I survive the day?_

Consciousness slowly faded back, for a moment I had forgotten everything. But only for a moment. My eyes flicked open and a rush of panic swept through me. A dirt ceiling was all I saw, curving in all directions to show a dome. The dirt was crisscrossed with vines thick and thin. My eyes flicked around the room, multiple empty beds of wooden frames and straw mattresses were scattered around the room, the floor was covered in stone tiles that were worn smooth by countless feet, my eyes continued to scan the wall and ceiling quickly to find a trio of windows arranged at even intervals and halfway down the ceiling, my eyes quickly found another feature in the room that happened to be directly to my right-a girl, an eevee just like me. She sat dozed off with her head leaning against the side of the bed. I pushed down the yelp of surprise that had made its way halfway up my throat, I was rather uncomfortable around other pokemon-mostly those that acted differently to me, or as I would see it, strangely.

I noted at the eevee's feline like forme, elegant and slim, with two long rabbit ears and a mane like bundle of pale cream fur around her neck in contrast to the pale brown that covered the rest of her, a patch of hair atop her head was slightly longer than the rest and rather messy-though so was most of her fur- probably as a result of a bed head, a big fluffy brown tail about the size of her body lay motionless behind her with its cream coloured tip wavering about in some under draft. I made a silent movement with my left paw to position it in a place to support my weight, the soft rustle of the straw mattress made the eevee stir, but not wake. The motion triggered a painful reaction from my body as all the cuts and bruises reawakened, I clenched my jaw and my eyelids squeezed shut as I held back the cry of pain. A low moan came out instead as I unwillingly settled back onto the bed. I turned my head to find a pair of gleaming aqua blue, opal eyes staring into my own. I recoiled in shock and the sharp pains of the cuts came again.

"Calm down." She said reassuringly, a warm smile formed on her lips and her eyes glinted with a gentle light. I made no move in response and instead stared back at her, a flash of curiosity crossed the eevee. I was curious as to why, but before I could ask it vanished. She smiled brightly though I couldn't bring myself to return it, my face was a mask to hide the chaos going through my head. Despite her reassuring words I couldn't remain calm, the flash of curiosity crossed her again and this time stayed. I was about to ask but decided against it and instead turned away and broke away from her gaze.

I made another move with my left paw to support myself, another jolt of pain coursed through, but I didn't stop. I pushed myself to sit upright and a throbbing headache came over me. My vision began to sway once more. To my surprise-and I would have jumped if I could- a soft padded paw touched my chest and pushed my back gently, my weak form put up no resistance and I fell back onto the bed once more.

"Stay, please." She added to make the command somewhat friendlier, her right paw drifted off my chest and onto mine, pinning it there-given I was quadrupedal that greatly restricted my movement. Panic rushed through me, her voice had an icy touch to it that frightened me combined with the fact I was obviously helpless to defend myself.

"Don't traumatize the boy, looks like he has been though enough." Came a friendly sounding voice with the slightest touch of humour in his voice, he obviously took the traumatization as a joke-I certainly didn't. I turned my head too look at the newcomer. The riolu from before, his satchel though wasn't there, he walked with a casual and confident step.

"Sorry." The girl replied, I turned back to look at her, her head was bowed in shame.

"Cheer up, you did a good job." The riolu said to cheer her up, he had a friendly smile on his face that seemed to catch onto the girl. "So, how did you end up like… this?" he directed the question towards me and made an indicative gesture towards me. I stared back blankly. Was he crazy thinking I would tell him or was I just overly cautious? "Um… How about giving us a name?" he suggested as he saw the blank look on my face.

"My-ugh-umm-na-umm-me-ugh-umm-is-ugh-umm…" I stumbled through the words, it wasn't really a question I was prepared to answer, or even capable of answering. After my jaw was left hanging in mid sentence I saw the eevee come around the bed to the side the riolu was on. She let out a slight giggle before raising a paw and nudging my jaw closed.

"Uhh… Don't you have one?" the riolu asked quizzically. He was right, I didn't. I had hatched with no one around, so naturally I was left to do everything from learning to scavenge and what not to naming myself by myself. Sure, other pokémon had called me many things-and they stuck- but they were meant as insults.

"I'm..." I faltered, I bit my lip in uncertainty of whether I should tell him anything, eventually the fact he brought me here and I was given a bed made me decided to answer him "..an orphan." I finished uncertainly.

"Ohh, well I'll call you eevee for now, ok?" he asked. His smile disappeared as not to look rude by smiling at my misgivings. I nodded, I didn't mind that.

"Now could you tell us what happened at least?" he asked as he turned back to me, a more serious expression had now come over his face. I flickered through my memories, only a few moments of the invasion were left, and the memories from before that were blurred and scattered to the far reaches of my mind. I closed my eyes to concentrate.

_A burning fire raging around me, my vision swayed as I appeared to be dazed from the heat. Fierce warriors with the tell-tale insignia of the drapion stormed the streets. The imaged faded slowly, I tried to hold on but couldn't. As it went black I fumbled through anything I could recall. Two piercing red eyes suddenly came to mind, two purple points the same colour as the rest of him where the nostrils should be, just below was the upper jaw from behind which two razor sharp fangs glistening in the firelight. The image of that face brought terror to me._

A sharp pain came from the gashes on my neck, my left paw shooting to the right side of my neck as I cried out in pain and the memory faded once more.

"Fire, everywhere, pokémon being taken prisoner and who knows what else… And a drapion…" I said as I tried to calm my breathing which had turned to short quick breaths as the horror returned to me. I opened my eyes and looked to the riolu, he had an expression of concern and urgency on his face.

"June, feed him some pecha berries, quickly, before he passes out again." He said urgently as he hurried towards the door with a paw pointed at me. I shifted my gaze over to the girl, she stood there with an expression I couldn't understand. She snapped to attention as out eyes met and bounded towards an assortment of shelves before picking out a particular bag and rushing back over to me. The familiar sensation of a dizzy spell came over me as she did, my head fell back onto the bed just before another jolt of pain shot through me. I struggled to stay conscious, judging by the tone the riolu said it in I probably wouldn't wake up a second time.

I clenched my jaw tightly, the pain was now continuous. I held my eyes shut tightly as one after another parts of me went limp, my tail dropped down onto the bed first, then my toes which had been formed into a sort of fist relaxed and my feet which had tensed like the rest of my body from the pain went limp, then my fore paws, then my knees, soon all I could feel was the desperate throbbing of my heart and the piercing headache as if someone had driven a stake through my skull.

"Here sir, but he's been poisoned and I don't think he'll wake up a second time if he faints now." spoke up the familiar voice of the riolu as the door was heard crashing open. A softly padded paw touched my jaw, I opened my mouth obediently and felt something drop inside. Now with a slightly firmer touch pushing it closed again, crushing the object between my teeth and letting its sweet juiced trickle down my throat. The sharp pains eased and the headache softened, the wave of numbness halted. I couldn't hold on any longer. My body relaxed as I fell unconscious once more.

...

Ok, the species is confirmed. Any guesses as to the rolls of the characters introduced so far? Maybe this is a prologue and the actual story takes place much later and the eevee dies and I'm just holding you in suspense because I'm being evil? We will never know…. Nah, you'll find out in the next chapter, maybe…

Anyways on a totally unrelated note, jumping off a bridge is fun…. Just make sure you're held by a bungee cord. It cures fear of heights.


	4. Introductions

_**Introductions**_

_Waking up in a strange place for the second time in what were maybe two or five conscious minutes is unpleasant. When I look back letting her put that berry in my mouth could have been a big mistake, call me overly cautious but I would say I have my reasons. Living through a nightmare could be one, don't you think?_

I woke up from what I thought was a nightmare, my breathing was quick and shallow. Slowly its pace returned to normal, I raised my paw to wipe my forehead which like the rest of me was drenched in sweat. I sat upright with minor troubles. The room was dark but my eyes were accustomed to this after having been closed for what was probably a while. Everything was the same, even the girl was lying against the frame of the bed as before.

My thoughts flicked back to the dream, all memory from it was gone or blurred beyond comprehension, only the fact I had dreamt it remained. I let out a deep sigh. Maybe it held some clue to the attack, judging by how I woke up I wouldn't be surprised.

"Huh?" came the sleepy voice of the eevee who had woken in response to the sigh.

"Never mind, go back to sleep." I mumbled as my gaze danced across the wall until it found a window for me to stare through. _Where will I go? The one place I knew is now nothing but ashes._ I thought to myself, my shoulders felt suddenly heavy and my ears drooped down. That village may never really have been welcoming but it was all I knew as home. A tear formed in my eye.

"Did you really come face to face with the drapion?" she asked ignoring my telling her to go back to sleep. Why was she so interested? Though the fact she spoke as if she had heard of him interested _me_. I pushed past my uncomfortable feelings about being near strangers to ask a few questions of my own.

"Yes, now tell me what made you and that riolu react that way when I mentioned a drapion. I know the reaction would have been different if I had said anything else." What I said was more of a demand than question. I wanted to know as much as I could.

"That drapion is-or at least we think- a certain drapion that along with a few other pokémon leads his own gang, well more like miniature army, and has recently gone further and attacked and destroyed villages without leaving any sign of them behind, no one has escaped." She explained mournfully, as if this troubled her personally "Until you." She added, she turned her head to me and I noticed a smile and a hopeful expression of sorts, though I didn't know why.

"I don't think I escaped without help." I answered, I didn't know why but something told me someone or something had helped me. Maybe it had to do with that dream. "Why are you pokémon taking care of me?" I asked insistently, my whole life and this was the first instance of someone actually helping me on their own accord, I couldn't help but wonder why.

"Well its kind of our job, this guild is split into two groups." She began "One group as the ones that go out into the field and explore or bring back injured pokémon, like you, the other group-the one I'm in- are like medical aids, we stay and take care of pokémon that are brought in, like you." Her ever present smile seemed to grow slightly every time she said the phrase _like you_.

"Why are you smiling at me like that?" I was feeling rather uncomfortable, like I said I was more uncomfortable around people more different to me-and she was definitely different to me, by a long shot. She let out a quiet giggle.

"You're quite shy aren't you?" she asked playfully, I sensed she was going to do some mental probing. Though I had no way to avoid it, I was rather socially dim and let on information without knowing it. I edged away from her and she noticed it "What's wrong? I don't bite." She added innocently.

"Trust me, with what I went through in what I recall as about three or four days being bitten sounds like a pleasure." I said as I halted at the edge of the bed to keep from falling off. She giggled again before hopping onto the bed beside me and rubbing her head up against my chest.

"Your funny." She said as she settled down on the mattress with her feet in the air as if she expected me to scratch her belly.

"That's a first." I mumbled before making the mistake of edging away a little bit more, only to fall off the bed and have the back of my head hit the ground with a resounding _crack!_

"Are you ok?" she asked as she poked her head over the edge of the bed with a look of concern, her head tilted at a slight angle. I forced a smile before answering.

"Like I said, it seems like a pleasure." I groaned "Plus, people say I have a thick skull." I said through another groan and I stood myself up with evident difficulty, my knees buckled and threatened to give way.

"Why are you so gloomy?" she said as she rolled over with her feet in the air so her head which was hanged off the edge looked upturned. "You seem like you could be fun, if you stopped trying to avoid everyone and stopped being… well… gloomy." She scrunched up her nose as she said the last part, like mock disgust mixed with someone trying to think.

"I'm sorry." I answered as I dusted myself off with my tail and flopping about my ears "Am I supposed to be dancing around giving everyone hugs and kisses?" I asked sarcastically, she was beginning to annoy me-no doubt that was the idea.

"Well that would be fun to watch." She said as she giggled once more, a few moments later she put her paws over her mouth and there was the sound of muffled laughter. I guessed she was imagining the idea.

"Aren't you enjoying yourself? Being all nosey and such?" I was asking this for two reasons, one to hopefully get her to stop out of either guilt or the embarrassment of being uncovered, and two to confirm if she was actually probing around.

"You could say that. You need to loosen up though, I'm trying to be _friendly_" she finished it in a way as if I didn't know what the word meant and she was being careful to see that I did.

"Go be friendly somewhere else." I grumbled as I looked around the room once more. I was trying-and seemingly failing- to make it clear that I wasn't the friendly type. Maybe I wasn't the one with the thickest skull around here. "Are you dim?" I asked as if I expected the answer to be yes.

"No, persistent." She rolled herself right side up and jumped down from the bed landing gracefully with her head low against the ground and her tail high and swishing about curiously. She proceeded to circle me like a sharpedo.

"When can I go?" I asked as I dodged her attempts to rub against me as if I was some foreign substance she was trying to understand, in truth we were identical aside from the obvious gender difference and the fact my fur was of slightly different colouration which was invisible in the dark.

"Any time you want, though I wouldn't wake the sentry now since he is a bit grumpy." She said as she continued to circle me, her beady blue eyes scanning me as if trying to memorize every inch, then she stopped in front of me-it seemed to take some effort to stand still and she looked dizzy- "Especially when woken up early." She added as if it were a precaution to keep me here. I couldn't be sure if she was making this up to stop me from leaving but I didn't want to chance it, I guessed 'grumpy' could mean violent. Especially to strangers. She seemed to detect my doubt and grinned widely as if she had succeeded in doing something.

I let out a deep sigh knowing I had just backed myself into a corner, a corner I would be returned to if I tried to escape "Ohh boy… why am I so gullible?" I asked myself, a giggle from the girl came in response.

"That's what makes you fun." She said as she sat down, her tail flicked about behind her "Anyways, I'm June. What's your name?" she asked as her tail settled down.

"I know you're June, but I don't have a name to respond with." I said glumly as I sat down and made myself comfortable, if I was going to stay here until morning I might as well do it comfortably rather than fighting to stay on my feet.

"There we go again, gloomy." She said as if she was disappointed "Try this." she added as she reached out at me with her forepaws which she rested on my cheeks-which consequently turned a bright crimson, luckily for me this went unseen- and began to tug them in different directions for a while. Her tongue poked out from behind her lips as she began to concentrate. "There." She said eventually and pulled her paws away, it took me a moment to realise she had formed my lips into a smile.

"No thanks, I prefer gloomy over having you play around with my face." I said as I removed the smile and turned straight faced once more.

"But I worked hard on that." She said as if she was genuinely sad about me removing the smile she had formed. Her eyes looked down in mock sadness and her ears drooped to either side.

"Do you do this to everyone?" I asked as I backed away a bit, she noticed this and made double the distance towards me, I backed away once more and into the next bed and the same thing happened again. "Ok, you're beginning to scare me." I said with some genuine fright in my voice, we were almost nose to nose. I pushed my head back into the straw to widen the gap. To no surprise she let out another giggle.

"No, but you're the first eevee I've taken care of." She spoke up as I backed away slightly to give me some space. I let out a breath I realised I had been holding.

"Well this eevee is getting scared." I replied. I edged to the side silently to make sure I wasn't backed up against something. She seemed not to notice this.

"Relax, what have I done that's scary?" her eyebrows went up as she asked the question, she didn't seem to think she had done anything to scare me. But pokémon are different, right?

"You keep trying to get closer and closer, and it looks like you know I don't like it." I complained as I took the final step to get clear of the bed.

"In that case, you're cute when you're frightened." She said through yet another giggle. I edged away to try and get more distance between us, all because I let out that stupid sigh. In truth I had ignored the words in that sentence.

"Please, stop, please!" I begged as I took a few steps back, and just as before for each one I took she took two. "I don't exactly call this being friendly, I call it being mean." I protested as I halted and did what came naturally when I felt afraid, I curled up into a ball with my tail covering my underbelly and my nose tucked into my mane and my tail covering the top of my head.

"You look like a ball of fur." She giggled "But what do you expect? Do you want me to dance around giving you hugs and kisses?" she quoted with a mischievous tone.

"Please don't." I replied from inside my mane.

I pulled my head out of my mane and looked at her, she sat there with an innocent look on her face, her front paws spread out as if she expected me to run at her and give her a hug. I scrambled awkwardly to my feet and began to run away, dodging through the narrow alleys made by the arrangement of the beds. To my right I heard the padding of paws on straw, I looked up onto the beds and saw the girl following me from above, leaping from one bed to another as she reached the end of each. I attempted to speed up but I was tired and hungry, the fatigue from the poison still remained.

She jumped down and tackled me to send us booth tumbling in a heap. I halted as the back of my head hit the wooden frame of the beds with a loud _crack!_ The girl had it easier and instead came to a rolling halt in front of me. I tried to steady myself as the world spun around me, my ears were ringing from the impact and my feet could barely hold me.

"You call that _friendly?_" I put the same emphasis on the word as she had done earlier. Then my knees gave way and I fell to my stomach, I rolled onto my side to keep an eye on the girl as my vision steadied. She was up and dusting herself off.

She took the few steps over to me and pushed me onto my back with one paw. Then carefully pinned my shoulders with her paws and then sat down on my stomach to effectively pin my torso while staying out of range of my hind legs. I had the feeling she had done all the probing she needed and was now moving on to some form of torture.

"Eep!" I squeaked as I struggled to break free. She smiled back and giggled, then came the biggest surprise of all as she got off me.

"Your fun, do you plan on sticking around?" she asked as she helped me up, the mischievous grin was gone and replaced by a friendly smile.

"If that means being around you then no." I took a cautious step back as I said that in case she got angry about that remark, seeing as she didn't I continued. "Though I wouldn't call that fun."

…

To answer just-a-chic's review, no this isn't the one. I decided to post pone that due to lack of pokémon to use, I need to draw up more and fix up the ones I have. Any ideas for those are welcome and tell me if I am missing some of the essentials like the three stage bug type worm/cocoon/moth or butterfly or rodent ect.

Anyways, the usual. Please read and review(that's R&R right?) and hopefully enjoy. I really need to writ them as the details for each chapter come to my head because I have it planned out(storyline) then I think over each chapter about a million times and get bored with it or start thinking it sucks because its not interesting. But I guess that's like watching the same movie over and over.

Now, review responses.

to last warrior 7, a description? Well I think a pile of ashes sums it up nicely, its not really an important setting, just a cluster of wooden huts as I think was mentioned.

to voltskull, that's sort of the idea. Things will clear up in the next few chapters.

To pure gamer, if you mean when he is questioned about what he remembers and he describes fire and stuff, yes that's what he recalls from the attack.


	5. The Guild

_**The Guild**_

_After that little encounter I almost wished I was in the hands- or claws, rather- of that drapion, but I guess she was only trying to have fun or something. It was just strange for me, I was used to being picked on and suddenly this. Maybe I was reacting the wrong way, she didn't seem bad._

After that little incident we sat down and had breakfast, of course it consisted of a bunch of berries she had taken from one of the shelves that lined the wall.

"Sorry if I'm acting so… weird, or unfriendly." I apologized, my ears drooped and my head bowed. "This is just so strange for me, I'm used to being picked on so my first reactions when you approached me like that were to get away." I explained.

"No problem, I guess I went a bit far." She rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment as she spoke. I waved a paw to dismiss it, probably she had gone within normal limits, just me reacting strongly.

"Have another berry, you've only taken one." She said as she nudged a few towards me with her paw. I shook my head, I wasn't really a big eater. It sort of explained why my rib cage stuck out.

"No thanks, I'm not big on eating." I said as I watched her devour another three berries, that made twelve so far. "You certainly seem to be though." I commented. She looked up at me with a slight frown and for a moment I thought she was going to pounce at me, then her expression softened and she smiled again.

"I haven't had a good meal in ages, I've been sitting by that bed cleaning, dressing and re-dressing your cuts and gashes." She said as she nodded at me. I looked at myself, it was true, I had several bandages wrapped around my legs and body. "You had a nasty cut somewhere on your neck, I couldn't bandage it though since your mane covered it up so I couldn't see it. When you got here your whole mane was blood red and matted to your neck." She added, I took a look at my mane, a tiny line of red had appeared at the side.

"Looks like the gash opened up from that tumbling." I said simply, it didn't hurt but I despised the sight of blood. She stepped carefully amongst the berries and towards me, I noticed a slight look of worry on her face before she ducked it under mine and began to lick my mane clean of the blood. It was how we eevee cleaned out wounds, I wouldn't be able to do it very well though since it was on my neck. My face went a bright crimson and flooded with heat as I felt the tickling sensation of her tongue on my neck. I felt her face pull out of my mane and looked away to hide the blush.

"All clean, better check the other side too, there was a gash there too." She explained as she circled around. "Did I do something?" she asked as she looked at my face, a soft smile came over it as she noticed the bright red beneath the fur. "Let me help you cool those down." She said as she gave me a playful lick on each cheek, though it only served to redden them further as another flush of heat went to my face. Then looked down at my mane, a bright red line similar to the one that she had cleaned off the other side stood out, once more she ducked her head under mine and licked it clean.

She pulled her head out just as we heard the door creak open.

"He's not on the bed, and June's not there either." Came the startled voice of the riolu, I heard another set of footsteps though I could see neither of the two since I was shorter than the beds.

"We're here." The girl shouted. A few moments later the riolu appeared, beside him was a weasel like creature with cream white underside and blue back, red spots could be seen on the top of its head and at the base of its spine-a quilava. The two looked at me and I stared back blankly, then their gaze shifted to where June stood smiling, a look of genuine surprise crossed them and they booth grinned.

"Good to see you back June." The quilava spoke. I looked over to June, something told me _she_ had been gloomy and depressed until recently.

"Well since she's back to normal no doubt you two have been introduced." The quilava said to me with a grin, as if he had some idea of what had happened, then he looked at June "I hope he haven't traumatized him with your usual antics." He joked. They seemed to be friends.

"Ohh I did much worse." She grinned "He's scared out of his fur of me." She added with a smile.

The riolu smiled a hello before his expression turned more business like "Do you remember anything else?" he asked.

"No, but I don't think I got away on my own… I can't explain it, its just a feeling." I explained sadly as if I had failed at something.

"Don't worry, believe it or not you've given us more information than anyone else." The quilava dismissed with a wave of his right forepaw "Though that might be because you're the only one to give us information." He said uncertainly as he scratched his chin.

"Yes, that would be the reason." The riolu said with a sigh. "Anyways I'm Will, the oaf of a quilava is Quill." He raised a paw at the quilava as he mentioned him.

"Who are you calling an oaf?" Quill protested angrily, the red spots on his head burst into an intense inferno as he spoke.

"The one who said 'that might be because you're the only one to give us information' _uncertainly _when you can't have gotten more or better information if nothing else gave you information!" The riolu snapped back, his paws were clenched into fists and ready to launch an attack, a cobalt blue mist circled around him.

"Those two are the best of friends, _if_ they aren't arguing." June explained whilst shaking her head, then she stopped and looked at the two "Break it up!" she snapped at them, the mist vanished and the flames died down to small embers which quickly burned out. The two quickly apologized to each other and the tense air around them relaxed.

"He-he.." the quilava laughed shakily as he rubbed the spot where the flames had been in embarrassment "Sorry you had to see that." He apologized before becoming serious again "You're welcome to stay a few more days before you have to leave, we kinda need those spots for other pokémon we bring in and the wounded from a battle that happened recently, they'll be here in three or four days." He explained. I nodded to show I understood. I hadn't expect to be allowed to stay forever anyways.

"Anyways, could you pick up those berries June?" Will asked her, she nodded and set to work. Then he turned to me "Could we talk to you? Try and find out some more about what happened and stuff." He half fumbled through the words as if making it up on the spot which made me think the real reason was yet to be revealed but I ignored that fact and followed them out the door.

The door led to a room similar to the one we had been in except much, much bigger, it was a dome-though about three quarters of the way up the dome was a flat ceiling- and the walls were patterned with vines in certain places-in one place they seemed to make a stripe up the wall to a hole about just under the ceiling. The ground was much to my surprise littered with patched of grass. A bunch of big circular windows dotted the walls at regular intervals. I looked to my left and saw another door about three meters away, on the opposite side of the dome two identical doors could be seen to mirror the ones on our side. On either side of us, halfway between the two sets of doors was one bigger door. To the right of one-which could be identified by the wooden sign above it clearly stating 'Mess Hall' in green letters- of them was the beginning of a staircase which zigzagged up the wall to the upper floor. I looked up and noticed a sign similar to the one that read _Mess Hall_ above the door we had entered through, it read _Medical Ward_.

On either side of the door opposite the mess hall were to big bulletin boards. A big circle was marked out with stone in the middle of the room, in the middle of the circle-also the room- was a pile of blackened wood in the middle of a scorched circle, around that were a bunch of logs I guessed served as seats. On the opposite side of the mess hall door to the staircase stood a big market like stall with a crowd of pokémon huddled around it, over the conversations I thought I could hear …_fifty poké… …top quality…_ and other similar exclamations. The rest of the room was littered with huddled groups of pokémon exchanging items and words.

"Welcome to the guild!" the riolu said as he saw my stare, his arms opened wide in a gesture to present the whole room. "Its more fun for us rookies later in the evening though." He added with a gesture to the circle.

Boring chapter but its just to bridge to the next one. Any tips on how I could improve?


	6. Why do

_**Why do-**_

_I have a dome over my head and some food, it would be perfect if it wasn't for June. Not that I'm complaining, I'm happy, but it could be better. I'm just hoping June is one of a kind._

I followed the riolu and quilava as they led me to the door opposite the mess hall. I was glancing to and fro looking for something to interest me. As I did I noticed more and more pairs of eyes lock onto me, I resisted the urge to lie on my stomach and cover my eyes with my paws. The riolu seemed to take notice.

"Break it up." He ordered and the countless pairs of eyes suddenly looked away as the pokémon returned to their conversations. I mumbled a thanks and we continued to the door. They stopped just in front of it.

"Mind telling me why you brought me here?" I asked as I halted behind them. They turned around to face me.

"She…" the riolu begun, he paused and bit his lip in hesitation. "Never mind." He said as if dismissing the notion to tell me something "She was depressed recently, now she is back to her usual self. She may do some stuff you don't like but please don't get mad about it, it would mean the world to us, she is like family to us." He explained, I had a feeling what he had left out had to do with why she was depressed but I decided not to ask. I knew it had something to do with me for some reason. No, not me, the drapion. I realised.

"We, and June, would appreciate it if you stayed, the fact you're here means a lot to her. She is like family and me and Will don't like seeing her depressed." He explained. He shook himself as if trying to get rid of the bad thoughts. "We would appreciate it if you stay and joined the guild." He added. He looked at me with pleading eyes, I flicked my gaze over to the quilava who mimicked his actions. I thought about my situation. Logically it wasn't a hard choice, but something edged at my thoughts. I normally went with logic but even the tiniest hint of doubt held me back, right now there was doubt about whatever it was that was troubling me.

"Am I interrupting?" June said as she positioned herself beside me. She took one look at the expressions on Quill and Wills faces before letting out another of her giggles. She turned over to me and observed my lost-in-thought expression and frowned slightly.

"I'll stay." I answered quietly. The sixth sense was still nagging at me as if trying to tell me something. Whether it was bad was another matter entirely.

"You will need to join up with someone in order to form a group or team, some of the medical crew might be eager to get a partner and become explorers or field teams." Quill said with a sidelong glance at June.

"So what do I do know?" I asked the duo of pokémon that had recruited me. Will shrugged, Quill had no better idea.

June, by now having discovered where I was staying, decided to answer "How about I give you a tour?" She asked.

"Ok." I agreed, having nothing better to do. Will nodded to me before heading off in the direction of the stairs, Quill followed him.

"Lead they way." I said as I turned my head to June, a giddy expression was on her face. "Ohh boy, my life if going to be a misery." I grumbled as I followed June who was skipping towards a big gathering of pokémon.

"Cheer up!" she said as she made a sudden turn, towards the door opposite the mess hall.

"Where are we going?" I asked her as I dodged through the crowd to follow her.

"You'll see." She replied as we reached the doors, she pushed the huge wooden doors open with ease. I stared slack jawed at what I thought was a miracle, those doors were _huge_ and no doubt heavy, iron bands stretched across horizontally and lined the rim.

The doors gave way to a much smaller dome, a table was against the wall to our right and ahead of us was an archway leading outside, on one side was a chair in which a giant blue beetle was sitting. It had one long horn sprouting from its head and ending in a vague X, on either side of it were two antenna ending in small spheres, oddly it was missing one pair of limbs.

"Hullo there June, good to see you back to your old self." The heracross spoke, a friendly tone in his voice. Then he looked at me "And that's the eevee that was brought in a few days ago. Hi, my name is Harek." He introduced himself, I gave an awkward smile as I inched away, his size made him intimidating to me.

"Come on, lets go!" June urged me from under the archway, I hurried after her without question. I was eager to get away from the heracross. I followed her out into a dirt clearing, a few mounds of dirt, holes, small craters and scorch marks told me battles took place there regularly. Grass rimmed the area, licking at the dirt, test how far it could go before being driven back. after a few metres this gave way to a sort of jungle. A dirt road seemed to be the only connection to any other place.

"Hurry up!" she urged me again from the border of the jungle, I quickly ran to join her. As I reached the border she disappeared into the forest. "Bet you can't find me." She shouted from some hiding place, a rustle of something darting through the undergrowth followed. I would have to sneak up on her or she would just find a new hiding place as she saw me coming. I looked over to the nearest tree, its pale yellowish bark was a near perfect match to my fur. A grin spread over my face as I scaled the tree, going as high into its branches as I could.

From above I scanned the undergrowth like a noctowl looking for rattata to make dinner. It was all shades of green with the odd patch of muddy ground, and the protruding trunks of course. A soft rustle, my ears perked up at the sound. My ears were fine tuned to sounds like that, its how I escaped the constant ambushes the other kids set for me back at the village. I darted along the branch I was on, following the direct of the sound. I kept low as to hide my self as much as I could. The branch below me began to waver with every step I took. I scanned the area in front of me for another branch, I spotted one just ahead. I took one final bound along the branch and pounced towards the next one, unfortunately I was used to doing this on rocky mountains, where the terrain was stiff. The branch bent back as I pushed off and my jump faltered, I held my paws outstretched for the nearest branch. No such luck, I missed. I fell fast the outstretched branches of the trees and fell into a thorny bush.

A giggle came from my left as I walked out of the bush, covered in scratches. Twigs, leaves and prickles all hung from my fur as if woven in. I cocked my head dead ahead, pretending to have heard to sound from the wrong direction. I flexed my shoulders and bent my forelegs, ready to pounce. I made a slight jump forward and landed so that I was facing June's hiding spot, without missing a beat I pounced again. I leapt through a burn-luckily it lacked thorns- and came out the other side, sure enough June was there, strangely she was well clear of my way. As I stared in amazement at how she had avoid me completely I failed to make a good landing and crashed to the ground.

She giggled before walking over to me, I groaned in response as rolled off my back. I rubbed a sore spot on my head where it had hit a rock.

"Nice one." I complimented through another groan. She smiled and rubber her cheek against mine before my dulled reflexes could kick in.

"Your fun." She said as she pulled away. I stood there dazed for a moment at her actions but shook my head violently to recover.

"Stop doing that, and stop saying that." I blurted as booth forepaws gripped my head. My head was going into overload, the way she was acting was enough to do this but so much of this was alien to me and it was driving me mad.

"Are you ok?" she seemed concerned, and a hint of sadness tainted her voice. "I'm sorry, I'll try to stop." She said apologetically.

"Look I'm sorry I'm like this, I just can't take it." I shouted, I was hyperventilating and making feeble attempt to pull out the fur atop my head and I stared at the ground wide eyed as if it was something completely knew to me. I shuffled back and calmed my breathing, I closed my eyes and tried to calm down. Instinct or habit made me curl into a ball.

I felt something nuzzled the back of my head and move slowly down to my neck in an almost familiar way. I loosened up involuntarily as her nose began nuzzling under my chin. I relaxed and opened up on the ground. The nuzzling stopped and the padding of paws on mulch could be heard.

"A friend of my moms used to do that to her child when it was stressed, my mom learned it and taught me. Eevee and similar pokémon have a soft spot there." She explained as she walked around to face me, now she a gentler and less energetic tone. I looked away and buried my nose in my mane. I was on the defensive again and my childish instincts for defence were taking control. She bit my ear gently and tugged on it to get my face out of its hiding spot. I lashed out with my tail and flailed my legs to get her to stop but they were to short and my tail was nothing but fluff.

"Can we just go back to the guild?" I asked quickly, I wanted to avoid conversation. I don't know what but something inside me had stirred, some memory awakened, something I missed gravely. I felt tears well up in my eyes but tried my best to hide it.

"I'm sorry…" she began as she noticed the tears I was holding back. I waved a paw to dismiss it before she could continue, then rubbed my eyes.

"Lets just go." I insisted. She gave me one final apologetic glance before heading off to my right. I set my mind to doing what it would normally do, wander.

I needed normality. I glanced around for any small detail I could use to draw a picture of where I was, what kind of place it was and even what time of year it was. On the branches were withering blossoms and the remains of summer flowers were drying on the ground. It was nearing winter here. The leaves on some trees were tinted with yellows and browns, some remained evergreen. The refreshing scent of the vegetation meant it had rained recently. I let my mind wander and took not of other points of interest, the most interesting point was that this jungle was not plagued by feral pokémon like the one I had escaped to.

Much to my surprise June stayed _quiet_ the whole way there, not that I was complaining. She slowed just before we exited the jungle and fell in stride beside me, a guilty look in her eye. She still seemed hooked on the idea she had done something wrong.

"You didn't do anything wrong," I tried to reassure her "It just… I suddenly feel like I miss something I lost." I explained, I was trying to push it out of my head but I just couldn't.

"The village you lived in?" She suggested, trying to make herself useful.

"No, I had nothing in that village. I don't know what it is, and I don't mean I'm not sure what it is, I literally don't know the thing that I'm missing, or I don't remember it." I explained, it was hard to find the right words.

The heracross glanced over to June as we entered, a frown crossed his face but he dismissed it quickly. We continued into the main room, it was a lot emptier than before, just a few around the 'market like stall' that turned out to be a market, wooden planks made up numerous stalls, a small stage in the middle of them had a sign above it reading _market_. She led us past it to one of the smaller wooden doors at the side of the room. This door was simple, plain wood, she pushed this one open with equal ease. I stared blankly as she pushed the door which was easily five times her height with complete ease. She turned around and looked at my bewildered expression before giggling. Then gave me a gentle push as if to assure me she didn't have super-eevee strength.

Some colour flooded to my cheeks as I realised how stupid that assumption was, I smiled shakily before following her down a short tunnel-probably five eevee could fit there in a row- leading to a small but bright… _dome_. The ceiling of this one was clear of vines but instead there were overhanging hammocks and a system of nets to get up to them, the ground was littered with straw, a few scorch marks and yet more straw, a clean pile of it was bunched up in the corner.

"This place looks like a hurricane came through here." I said as I stared at the scene, judging by the hammocks it was the sleeping quarters or something.

"Yep, and your going to be sleeping in this disaster area." She said as she picked her way through the straw towards one of the nets hanging in the air "Its getting colder so if you want some warmth make a nest near a fire type, but not to near." She warned. I looked around, most of the hay actually formed circles, beds. I noticed they were mainly centred around a more burnt nest, it seemed they made a nest and stuck with it since the scorch marks were numbered.

I picked my way through the stray looking for an empty space near a scorched nest, they all seemed to be taken. I sighed and troded over to the hay heap. I bit into a bunch and began to tug at it to get a small pile of material. I pulled it free and went to the edge of the hay stack where I started forming a nest against the wall, which was surprisingly cold as a regice!

"You'll freeze there," she advised "And I literally mean _freeze_. Not into an iced eevee but you get the idea." She explained from inside a hammock, some rustling could be heard as she adjusted the straw bedding.

"Any suggestions?" I asked as I dropped the bits of straw from my mouth in defeat.

"Some of the hammocks are free." She suggested. I took up some straw in my mouth once more and scanned my intended route to the hammocks, the net. It looked easy enough. I headed towards the closest place it was low enough for me to leap on.

"Need some help?" she asked from above me. I shook my head.

"No thanks." I grumbled through a mouthful of straw, I had placed one paw on the rope and was trying to steady it. Once I thought it was steady I put on some weight and lifted another forepaw onto the netting, June watched with keen interest. I lifted a hind paw onto the rope, testing how much it would sway

I placed the last of my paws onto the net, suddenly I felt off balance as the net wobbled below me. I stood shock still and waited for the net to steady before slowly but surely picking my path up to one of the hammocks. As I placed my left forepaw onto a section of rope in front of me the rope gave an unexpected twist and my paw slid into the square gap, my face followed into another one and the rest of my legs fell through in the process.

"You sure?" June asked uncertainly, but there was a hint of humour in her voice which made me think she was grinning.

"Yeah, I think I'll sleep here." I grumbled as I tried to pull my legs out of the holes but found I couldn't re-place them on the ropes, either I couldn't reach or they kept slipping off.

"June, stop teasing the poor guy." Came a girls voice from behind me, the tone was that of a mock telling off. June giggled in response.

I felt something take hold of my sides and lift me up and out of the holes in the net. instead of letting me go it carried me swiftly along the net and over to June's hammock in which it dropped me head first into her hay heap.

"Urgh…." I groaned as I pulled my head out of the hay, to my surprise I was grabbed again, this time turned around and moved to the side. Then something grabbed my tail and I let out a yelp of surprise, June's _huh?_ Came from beside me before I felt my tail being wrapped around something.

"There." Came the same voice from before as a white bird like pokémon flew into view from behind me, a head that looked like half an eggshell sported a satisfied grin, the head down the neck was a neatly rounded body patterned with the outlines of triangles in reds and blues, two leaf shaped arms poked out of the body, on the other side were two elongated spirals which served as wings, two short legs let to small over shaped feet sporting two toes each. I glared angrily at the togetic, no doubt she was the one who grabbed my tail.

"Hmm…" she said as she rubbed her chin with her short arms, I found it a miracle she could reach it given her rather long neck. "Still needs something…" she murmured "A ha!" she said excitedly before flying closer and tilting my head slightly to the left until it touched something else.

I straightened up my head and looked over to what she had pushed me up against, a rather red in the face June, then looked back at the togetic angrily.

"I'm going back to making a nest by the wall, with any luck I'll freeze to death." I grumbled as I clambered up the curving cloth to the edge of the hammock, my tail pulling free from what I realised was June's tail. In my little tantrum I had forgotten that over the edge of the hammock was a system of nets and began to tumble down the inclined net. About three rolls later my left hind leg got stuck in the ropes.

The togetic made a move towards me. At the moment I didn't want any help, despite the headache I was getting from all the blood in my head.

"Please don't." I grumbled as I strained myself upright. I grabbed a part of the rope with a free forepaw and used the other to free my hind leg which had gotten stuck where the rope had split into two separate pieces for a short length. After my leg was free I began my careful decline down the rope net.

I jumped off at the end, landing rather awkwardly having forgotten that pushing off the net wouldn't work to well.

Jane jumped into the net from the hammock. She landed rather gracefully and took a moment to steady herself before bounding down the net towards me with surprising speed and agility, it made me look like nothing short of a magikarp getting down. She landed beside me and sat facing me.

"You ok?" She asked me, I nodded. "Excuse Alex, she's a bit over active." I gave her a quizzical look.

"And you aren't?" I asked curiously, she grinned back.

"Ohh you know me…" she began as her gaze began to wander aimlessly around the room before locking onto mine, two wide, grinning eyes stared into mine "Shy and subtle." She finished as she nudged my shoulder with a paw playfully.

"Come on, fires burning, we just need everyone there." Said quill as he flung open the door, his eyes scanned the inhabitants until they locked onto me and June "Bring him along june." He added with a cheeky grin, June grinned at me, I had a felling of foreboding. Then his voice was heard once again as he disappeared down the tunnel "Couples are aloud too!" he said in a teasing manner, June's smile faded and she let out a small growl. What did that mean? I wondered. I looked to June for answers but she seemed busy staring intently at the dirt, I wondered what was so interesting. I noticed a touch of red was spreading across her cheeks.

"Why do-" I begun, June cut me off by biting my ear and making a run for the door, with me in tow desperately trying to stay on my feet and not have my ear pulled off at the same time. The togetic drew pace with us and followed us from above.

...

yeah, its been a while, and yeah this is a terrible chapter, more reasoning for the haitus in the next chapter.


	7. Round the Campfire

'_**Round the Camp Fire**_

_Hopefully I remember not to get on June's bad side, Quill seemed to regret it, but knowing me I won't remember. Either way she's not that bad, I think I'll live. At least not everyone here is like here, more or less._

We entered the main room, it was almost empty spare a small crowd disappearing through the doors of the mess hall, that and a small gathering of pokemon in the middle of the room.

"Go ahead Alex." June nodded to the circle, the togetic shrugged and flew ahead. "Now that she's gone, just play along." She told me vaguely as she skipped ahead, I took up a brisk pace to keep up. _Play along? Am I meant to be skipping?_ I wondered as we approached the gathering of pokemon sitting in a circle around the fire.

"Thanks for noticing Quill." June said as she stopped and rubbed up against me, I stood shock still at the sight of so many eyes on me, practically paralysed by a sort of stage fright. June lifted a foreleg and put it around my neck. "He's cute isn't he?" she asked the small crowd. A flush of colour went to my cheeks, my face felt one ember short of a slugma's when it came to temperature.

"Ugh…" Quill began, I noticed something was worrying him, this observation freed me of my paralysis for a moment.

"I noticed you fell similarly for Alex." June grinned broadly, Quills normally pale cheeks went a light shade of red.

"Uhh…" he began uncertainly "I do not!" he demanded, a roar of laughter erupted from the crowd present. He looked down and let out an exasperated sigh. Alex flew over to him and whispered a few words to him before backing away and giving him a warm smile, whatever she said seemed to have cheered him up as he smiled weakly.

"Cheer up, it's just one of Junes jokes." Will told him as he gave him a pat on the back, he didn't seem to have noticed the slight smile.

"What was that all about?" I asked with a puzzled expression on my face, I realised June was still leaning against me and hopped away.

She looked at me with a similar expression "You have no idea?" she asked, I nodded. She reached out and tapped my head "Doesn't sound empty, doesn't seem full either." She joked, I felt rather insulted seeing as I liked to think of myself as rather smart.

June walked off to the left and sat herself onto a log nearby, she patted the spot beside her in an indicative gesture. I looked at here uncertainly, wondering if she was going to repeat what she did a few moments ago. She rolled her eyes.

"Ohh come on, I don't bite." She said in a nonchalant way, I raised my eyebrows in response before flopping the ear she had bitten less than a minute ago in front of my face.

"Oh him sorry, those must be imaginary-eevee bite marks. My mistake." I said sarcastically.

"Fine, I bite, but is it the biting you would be worried about?" She gave me a questioning glare "And I don't do it _that_ often." She added innocently. Why was I not reassured? Seeing I hadn't done anything to move she persisted "Even if I did try and do something to embarrass you or something you wouldn't notice, you didn't even know what that was about!"

"Ohh I think you already embarrassed me." I grumbled as I padded towards the log and sat warily beside her. The circle of pokemon wasn't large, it consisted of a few I had already met-June, Alex, Quill and Will- as well as a tailow, monferno, and vulpix among others.

A red fox about my size walked up to us, she had six tails all ending in a smooth curl, three much smaller curls were lined in a row between her rather wide ears, the excess was combed forwards to cover her forehead, the only part of her not red was her underbelly which was a clean white.

"Umm… Hi." I said awkwardly, the vulpix smiled and her hazel eyes glinted in the firelight.

"So you're the one that's been keeping June bust these last few days." She replied, her beady eyes looking me down before returning to mine.

"Sorry about that." I replied shyly, she smiled and put a paw to her mouth to muffle a giggle. Giggling seemed to be something you caught here, like a sort of flu or something.

"Don't be sorry." June told me, I looked over to her. The mischief from her eyes gone she now wore her warm smile of welcome.

"Umm…" I considered saying I that I wasn't sorry then but decided that would make me seem either rude or stupid.

Noticing my struggle the vulpix decided to help me out, I think "What's your name?" she asked.

"Umm…" this was something I was even more clueless about, what was an appropriate answer when you didn't have a name? _Sorry, but I do not have such a thing as to reply to you by_? No, that sounded stupid. I my gaze drifted up and my lips were set in a firm line of concentration as I discussed the possible answers to myself. From beside me June stared with keen interest at the exchange, or –rather- silence.

"It's taking him an awful while to remember his name, did he bump his head or something?" The vulpix asked, June shook her head.

"He did, but that's not the issue." She replied before waving a paw in front of my face to bring me out of my thoughts.

"Huh?" I exclaimed as I reeled back in surprise at the sudden appearance of the paw. I had tilted just a little bit too far and fell back over the log. A _crack!_ Was heard as my head hit the floor. "You enjoy seeing me in pain don't you?" I asked her grumpily as I pulled my feet off the log. The vulpix took my place.

"Couldn't you have just bitten my ear like before?" I asked as I walked around to face June "At least that way you would have fallen down with me." I grumbled.

"Cheer up; you're acting like a gloom again." She complained. The vulpix stifled a giggle.

An orange monkey with a slim tail tipped with a flame and a pale brown stomach, fingers and feet walked up to us, he was carrying a stick with many forks, on each tip was impaled a roasted berry or sticky treat. He held it out for June to take pick, his pale brown muzzle grinning broadly as she took a few, his eyes which were surrounded by a blue strip-turned red above his nose- glinted with satisfaction as if he wanted her of all pokemon to take one. June offered one to me and the vulpix.

"Thanks Aron." She said with a smile, the monferno's smile changed from one of satisfaction to one of 'your welcome' and he left to offer some of the treats to the other pokemon.

"Aron seems to like you." The vulpix hinted as she gave June a nudge, I nearly spat out the half melted block of something that I had finally brought myself to put in my mouth. I ended up spraying half of it out and choking on the other half. The vulpix gave me a few hard pats on the back until I coughed up the bits I was choking on.

"What's so surprising?" June asked angrily, she seemed to have caught onto why I had been choking.

"In the little time I have known you I can barely stand you, how someone starts even liking you I don't understand." I replied confidently, June got down off the log and flicked her tail in my face.

"Ohh you like me, you just don't want to admit it." She teased.

"Then you must know me better than I know myself if I do for some reason like you in any way." I countered, in truth I wasn't quite sure that made sense.

"Break it up you two." Said the vulpix with a grin as she nudged me away from June using her muzzle, she then nudged June in the opposite direction.

"But I was just getting to the fun part." Complained June, a cheeky grin spread over her face that made me inch backwards.

"June!" the vulpix scolded her "Don't petrify him, did you see his face when you were pulling that stunt to embarrass Quill?" She demanded, June seemed un-phased by this scolding.

"No, but I imagine it looked something along the lines of this." She said before perfectly mimicking my expression during that moment, then she added "But I think his cheeks would have been red." She teased, my cheeks went a little red at that moment. The vulpix seemed unable to contain herself and burst out laughing.

"Very funny." I grumbled as I meshed into the crowd gathered around the fire, some talking while others dancing. I sat as close to the fire as I dared to without singeing my fur. I stared deep into the flames, my eyes fixed on the mesmerizing patterns of the fire. My eyelids drooped slightly and I realised I felt sleepy, looking out the windows it was nearing dusk. I lay back onto my tail with a sleepy sigh and wondered about tomorrow, I hoped it would be nothing like today. Beside me lay a box of small, round, blue berries spotted with tiny dots. I took out a few and dropped them into my mouth, I felt suddenly hungry and wished I had eaten more for breakfast. I reached for the box again, expecting a smooth berry I touched upon a fluffy paw.

I withdrew my own instantly and looked over to the pokemon whose paw it had been, June, I sighed.

"So it's a thirty second break between every time you try and bug me." I groaned, she ignored this and nuzzled my cheek. I pushed her nose away with a paw. She was persistent and pinned down my paw with here own.

"Come on, let's have some fun." She told me as she continued to nuzzle my cheek, I leaned per cautiously towards the fire to try and get away, she gave it a lick with her rough tongue before pulling away.

"I don't know how, I'll probably trip over my own paws." I grumbled as I rubbed the cheek she had licked. I rolled onto my feet and began to walk away from June, annoyingly she fell in step alongside me. An innocent look on her face as she attempted a whistle. I gave her a suspicious glance before noticing she was narrowing the gap between us, I could feel her fur brush along my left side and would have jumped to the right had it not been for the fire in that direction.

"Stop it!" I told her as I took a firm stance and held my paw out, pushing her away from me. "Can't you leave me alone?" I asked her, my forehead creased with irritation.

"Ana wouldn't let me off the hook without making nice, loosen up." She said as she dodged to the side and made a quick u turn, I felt something grab my tail "Now come on and get back in your seat, were gonna hold the meeting!" she exclaimed as I felt whatever had grabbed my tail give it a good yank. I fell back onto my tail with a yip.

"Do I have to spell out 'leave me alone' or do you already know what it means?" I growled at her as I got back up and headed for the log. She smiled beside me.

"But you're fun!" She complained cheerfully "You look rather cute when you're grumpy too." She added, her paw prodding my nose, as I was busy mumbling under my breath about what a pain she was.

I took a seat between the vulpix-who I guessed was Ane- and June, still mumbling to myself about how annoying June was.

"Guys, we have a new apprentice who joined today." Will announced from the other end of the circle, he made a gesture towards me and a dozen or so eyes swerved over to me. I shrunk back involuntarily into June.

"Don't be shy." She teased as she pushed me away with a devilish grin.

"Umm… hi?" I spoke experimentally. A ripple of laughter passed through the crowd.

"Your doing great." June told me with a grin, somehow I didn't believe her. I stood shock still, only resisting going 'umm' continuously to avoid looking like more of a fool. June elbowed me in the ribs.

"I used to live in a village…" I began uncertainly, June nodded and made a gesture for me to continue "… Then it got burned to the ground…" I finished uncertainly.

"How about if anyone wants to meet you they can go talk to you." Said will, seeing my uncertainty. "That aside, anyone want to join up with him to form a team, or any teams want to let him join?" He asked.

June whispered something to Ane, I leaned towards her to listen, surprisingly June seemed to know what I was doing and placed a paw on my chest before giving me a hearty shove.

"I would." June spoke up after a moment. It took me a moment to realise what she meant, but I did. I raised a paw to object, but June, who had anticipated this, covered my mouth with a paw "He agrees." She added. I furrowed my eyebrows and crossed my arms, my mind had been made up for me.

I let out a sigh and slumped down onto the log. Will, June and Ane exchanged a brief conversation at the end of which June gave me a pat on the back and told me to cheer up.

"How can I?" I mumbled "I have to spend even more time around you."

"Don't worry, I'll keep her on a leash." Said Ane as she pawed at June's ear, trying to grab it but failing due to lack of a thumb.

"Lets go, we need to help him make a nest." Said the red fox as she bit June on the ear and pulled her off the log.

"Aww… Can't we at least stay for the game?" she complained, lying down in her tail behind the log.

"No," the vulpix replied in a motherly tone.

"Aww…." June repeated. She curled her lip and did a few rapid blinks. I however was more than happy to leave the gathering. I didn't hear steps after my own. I turned around, June was putting up a mock struggle against Ane, a giggle escaping her every now and then. "I don't wanna go mom." She mocked as she batted away Ane's snout which was trying to bite her ear and drag her along.

I continued off towards the dorm room, leaving behind the squeals and shouts of laughter that surrounded the campfire. With a certain degree of curiosity I pushed open the wooden door, it swung open with a silent creek. The door seemed light as a feather! I stood there gape mouthed for a moment before shaking my head, I would ask June for an explanation tomorrow. After I passed through I took my paw off the door which swung closed in a well practised and fluent motion. Entering the dorm I picked my way between the nests and over to my chosen spot beside the haystack. I went to lie down, falling asleep before I touched the hay.

….

Sorry for the long wait and the bad chapter but I have a case of writers block and one of my main typing fingers had an accident so typing is a bit slow. The story will pick up the pace soon, I hope.


	8. Caramel

_**Caramel**_

_To think after finally having a warm bed I would want to leave it for the cold of a bush, strange eigh? Well I'm about to start my first day as a member of a rescue team, with June. I should probably loosen up and get to know her, I'm going to be her teammate after all. _

The moonlight crept along the floor, slowly moving across my face. My eyes snapped open, my adrenalin began to pound from being in an unfamiliar place. My eyes darted around the room, _relax_, I told myself. Remembering where I was, I calmed down.

Picking my way carefully between the pokémon sleeping in their nests, my path illuminated by fire based pokémon, I reached the door, much to my annoyance it made a silent creak. I tensed and clamped my eyes shut in anticipation, no response. Entering the tunnel I glided silently along the floor, my paw pads making not even a noise, a useful skill from a lifetime is sneaking into sheds and shelters. In the main room I hurried along the wall, now more relaxed.

Entering the entrance room I saw the blue beetle sitting on his chair, his mouth hanging open, silent snores escaping him every now and then. Tip toeing past the sleeping guard I ducked under the tarp that now covered the entrance, a pleasant breeze pinched my cheeks as I stepped out, the cold sending a slight shiver through me.

I wandered around the guild to familiarize myself with my surroundings, finding a lake hidden around the bend, it flowed from a stream and had a channel leading towards the guild, stopping abruptly before reaching the wall. I walked up to the edge of the waters. A crisp reflection stared back, the pale grey irises seemed to shine with the reflective waters, the fur of the figure staring back at me mirrored my own with its straw accessorization which blended with the pale yellow fur that hung on as a tangled heap, the puffy mane half in dreadlocks and the tail faring no better. I let out a little laugh looking at this reflection of myself.

The lake mirrored my laugh, a new light shining in the eyes. I walked along the bank, finding a stone breaking the surface I hoped onto it and followed a rising trail to a jumble of boulders forming a crescent island encircling the centre of the lake, the boulders rising in height towards the mid point.

I hopped up the boulders with ease, the mountainside of the village flashed before me, then came the odd feeling of déjà vu. A scene flashed before my eyes, daylight and little paws flicked in and out of view in front of me, an eevee bounded into sight from beside me, a few years old at most, and flicked her tail at me as a taunt, my avatar sped after her and tackled her over the edge, we booth fell before hitting the water, splashes of water blocked my view before the vision faded.

My senses returned, I was at the mid point of the crescent, at its peak. How had I got up here, wouldn't I have tripped in my daydream? The mountains of the village I wouldn't be surprised, I knew the place by heart, but here? I looked down into the waters, an eevee sitting atop a pile of boulders, framed by the full moon.

Lulled by the tranquillity I nudged the stray straw out of my fur and settles on the stone, smooth and oddly warm. I closed my eyes which fell with a sudden weight, drifting off into the world of sleep.

_A humoured laugh came "I know," a female replied to some comment, I felt the ghost of a memory touch my side. "But first he needs a nap." She joked. Yellow tails tipped with red hugged around me._

_A male chuckled "He does look tired." He agreed. I felt my avatar do a yawn followed by two slow blinks._

"_Sir, they're approaching fast!" Came the panicked voice of a sandslash who appeared in the doorway of the den. The eyes I was watching through began to close for a finally time, before they did, though, I thought I could see a black paw at the edge of my vision. The eyes closed a final time._

A gentle nudge pulled me from my dreams, I let out a groan as I felt the stiff aftermath of the nights sleep. I yawned sleepily, making a few slow blinks before managing to hold up my eyelids.

"You gave me a scare." June's voice piped up, a note of concern was easily detectable.

"I'm just used to sleeping under the stars, sorry." I replied somewhat absent mindedly, my eyes looking at the stars which were still up, my mind fumbling over the dream I had, that and the daydream.

"So, what should we call you?" she asked, I could have sworn she had blushed but it was too dark to tell, "What do you want for a name, I mean?"

"Well, call me..." I began. I paused, nothing came to mind, "Uhhh-" I began, she put a paw to my lips.

"Caramel?"

"Caramel," I whispered. I gave a nod, "Call me Caramel."

"Come on _Caramel_, its more comfortable inside," June prompted, I followed her back reluctantly, I didn't want to leave the place. I cast a look over my shoulder, the two eevee from my daydream projected themselves onto the rocky heap.

…

Changed this chapter because I realized I posted the wrong version.

Yet again i changed it, it was missing the bit about him being named. Sorry this is so messed up, these chapters around this one have been writen and rewriten with varying events to varying versions of the storyline, this scene was originally non existant. And some of the chapters contained references to events in chapters from another version of the storyline or otherwise unconected chapter-or the chapter they are replacing.

Well, i'll be placing notes like this on chapters i have changed.


	9. First Time's Not a Charm

_**First Time's Not a Charm**_

I felt a gentle nudge to my side, I batted out and missed. Something brushed my nose, my face scrunched up as I batted out again. Then something clamped onto my ear, giving it a hefty tug and wrenching me out of place.

"Yow!" I exclaimed, giving into the tug since I didn't want my ear coming off. I turned in its direction, June stood there grinning with my ear in her jaws. "Could you let me go, please?" I whined, one paw going up to the base of my ear which was throbbing painfully.

Letting out a giggle muffled by my ear she darted off in the direction of the door, only half awake I stumbled after her in order to keep my ear. To my relief she stopped once we were in the main room, a hurried walk as she urged me on with regular tugs to the ear. I flicked my eyes over to one of the windows, dawn twilight leaked in and decorated the floor in a patchwork pattern of light.

"You said you didn't bite..." I whined as she pulled me into the circle we were at last night, a loose gathering stood there, discussing the best things to bring on an expedition and exchanging items.

"I said I don't do it often." She grinned at me after letting go of my ear.

"Yeah." I replied nonchalantly, nurturing my slobber covered and slightly crooked ear. I set to work grooming flat my fur and removing the odd bit of straw. It was still in tangles though so I don't think it helped much with my appearance.

June poked her nose in my mane, I froze expecting her to bite me or something. She raised her head, a piece of straw hanging from her jaw, head cocked at an odd angle and forehead creased. She spat out the straw and started nudging some stray hairs from my mane into place.

"Thanks." I replied, letting out a deep breath in the process. She smiled back and sat down beside me.

"So, how's it going?" she asked, the smile still plastered on here face. I inched to my right unconsciously. She rose to her feet and took a step towards me, biting my good ear and pulling me back. "I'm not going to eat you." She said with a devilish grin, obviously aware of the contradiction going on.

"You said you didn't bite..." I repeated, my ears flat against my cheeks and one paw rubbing down the one she had just bitten. "...Often..." I added, aware that she was just about to correct me on that. She nuzzled my cheek but said nothing, I was too buried in pity for my ear to notice.

"Good to see you two getting along." Said Ane with a smile, I looked over to her, unaware as to what June was doing. June pulled away then.

"She said she didn't bite..." I complained, putting my ear on display. The vulpix looked at June, June stared back, eyes wide and looking to the ceiling, her lips curled and she made a few rapid blinks. The vulpix let out a giggle looking at this display.

"Sorry." She said, giving me a lick on the cheek. I toppled over in surprise. They booth stifled a giggle as I rolled onto my stomach and got up again, turning around to face them.

"Stop that, please." I told her, stomping a forepaw onto the ground. She ignored me and raised a paw to my forehead, smoothing down the ruffled fur.

"What?" She asked absent mindedly, her gaze rolling about the room. "This?" she asked quickly leaning her head forward and giving me another lick on the nose

"Yes." I replied as I wiped my nose. She giggled.

"Your fun." She told me, remembering what happened last time she said that I inched away, I saw her lift her paw to follow.

"Head to the training grounds, pair up with another team." Boomed a voice, June stopped and turned in the direction of the speaker, the heracross. _Thank you Ho-Oh._ I thought to myself silently as I followed behind June. She veered off towards Alex who was gliding alongside Ane before pulling up.

"What's up?" Alex piped up as she glided down to me.

"Hmm?" I asked as I looked up from my feet, "Ohh, nothing," I replied. Then a question sprung to mind, "How do you cope with her?" I asked, nodding my head at June. Alex burst out laughing.  
>"You get used to it, you pick up some of her traits, you'll get by," she explained as she sobered up. Call me paranoid but I didn't think I would.<p>

"Anyways," Alex begun, a grin spreading across her face, "Don't expect us to go easy on you just because you're the new guy," she told me with a nudge before flying ahead. I became aware of footsteps walking in time with mine, a skill learnt buy dodging angry stall owners and the other kids back at the village, of course all of that was gone, now. I turned my head, of course I was met with a duo-or seven, rather- of tails, one brown and topped with cream and the rest red and curled at the tip as they walked past me.

"My nose doesn't need dusting, thank you very much," I mumbled, June grinned back at me, seemingly having completely mistaken my tone.

"Smile for a change, we're trying to dust off that frown," she explained. Okay, maybe not everyone in this world was trying to chase me down and butcher me for stealing berries, clobber me for being a loner or kill me for some reason I'm yet to discover, but that didn't mean I had to like those pokemon. And I didn't, especially those that dust my face every three seconds. And it didn't mean I had to smile at them.

I spent the walk to the training ground –a dirt clearing to the right of the entrance, covered in pits, craters, piles of debri and black marks- mumbling about how June was a pain in the tail, a royal one at that.

"Who's going to go first?" the heracross asked, though his eyes were already on June even before she began frantically shouting 'us!' over and over. Personally I was more of the 'go last' kind of eevee, but sadly I had little say in this.

I followed June into a particularly scorched and torn up part of the clearing, outlined by a circle of flagstones.

"You know the drill, don't go to far, this is only training. Though I wouldn't expect it from you girls, anyway," The heracross noted, I was about to shout '_I'm_ not a girl, you know.' But the prospect of having everyone stare at me turned me off. The heracross, June and Ane exchanged nods, "Alright, GO!"

Ane fluttered her tails slightly, a golden light started to shine through the bristles of fur, one globe of light gathering at the tip of each tail. She beamed at me as I stared slack jawed, a fountain of light erupted from her tails and into the sky. I felt the sun beat down on my fur more harshly, around Ane the ground was getting a lighter, drier look and even getting scorched in some places as tendrils of fire began licking out from her body. A crescent of blue exploded on the ground in front of me. I yelped and jumped back, looking up I saw Alex slashing through the air with her wings in a sort of dance, each swipe making a blade of energy like the one which has narrowly missed me.

I tested my weight on my toes with a light hop before skipping back out of the way of another.

"Duck!" I head June shout, I looked around, I didn't see any ducklet. I soon found out that wasn't what she meant, a wave of fire flooded over me from behind. I closed my eyes and fell to the ground, uselessly trying to shield myself with my paws and tail.

I rolled to the left and exited the stream of fire, my fur singed and fuming as I charged at Ane, ducking and side stepping fireballs as she threw them my way. Unfortunately I seemed to have missed something, something hit my back, hard. I cried out as my front legs collapsed, my face hit the ground and I tumbled over, dragging to a halt in front of Ane, tendrils of fire dancing in her jaw as she aimed it at me. I made a desperate swipe at her forepaw, managing to pull it from under her. She fell forwards with an oof as she took a mouthful of dust. I rolled to my feet as June rushed in, fur smoking and pinned down Ane.

I spun around to face Alex, just in time to dodge a series of blue blades as they cut the air and headed towards me. It shattered, literally, against the ground, shards bouncing across the ground before melting away. I circled away from June.

"Umm…" I began trying to think of a suitable taunt, "Mind throwing a few over here?" I asked, nothing else had come to mind so I decided to go for the straight request. Alex eyed me cautiously but set loose a barrage of blue crescents. I dodged frantically until I had time to lock onto one, my target acquired I leapt up, planting a paw on the crescent and attempting to kick off, but it didn't work. The crescent melted away beneath my paw. I fell on my feet and took a few leaps back.

"You like dodging?" she asked, a smirk on her face, "Dodge this!" she challenged. I gulped as she made a loop through the air, diving straight at the ground, I could _see_ the wind whipping around her, as she pulled up not a foot above the ground dust flew up around her. A wall of small rocks and cracked earth flew up on either side of her as she performed like an aerial ace. I raked my mind frantically, this didn't seem dodgable, but it look like it would hurt, a lot!

Out of instinct I stood on my toes, skipping to either side for a moment before bolting at Alex. At the last moment I veered to the left, narrowly dodging the brunt of the attack as we passed along each other, this didn't last though, she pivoted, kicking up more dust and obscuring us from view, all the while not slowing down and still locked onto me. I skidded to a halt and charged back at her, again trying to make the last minute dodge, sadly she had caught on, she turned sharply before we collided, the gust of air that had been trailing her bowled forth, throwing me up into the air. I fell heavily on my side, no sooner had I fallen than Alex rammed into my stomach, throwing me up again and out of the dust cloud.

I fell heavily on my chest, the air forced out of me and stars dancing in front of me as I fought for air, and to get up. My legs trembled as I forced myself up. Blasts of air began punching holes in the dust cloud from within, soon colourless blades of air joined them in tearing holes through the only thing standing between me and Alex, a final gust of wind scattered the cloud, Alex stood in the middle of where it had been, somewhat loop sided when it came to coordination.

Somewhere to my left June gave a yelp as a jet of fire shot into the sky. I turned my gaze back to Alex, now recovered and with her two stubby arms held in front of her, a small fire ball forming between them, yellow and orange light danced along the feathers on her chest and the ground below her. With a quick twirl she hurled it towards me, the fireball trailed wisps of fire as it hurtled towards me, breaking into a five point star about half way to its target. I gulped and looked away, bracing myself for the impact. The star folded against me and engulfed my furry forme. I tried to roll across the ground and put out the flames but my legs felt weak and the flames were pounding down against me.

The flames stopped. I groaned as my skin blistered painfully, my fur somehow not reduced to ashes.

"That's enough, StarShine win!" the heracross announced, I groaned in response, June padded up in front of me, flicking her tail back and forth, bright white sparks crackling along her tail and headed to the tip where they shone like a little star. It burst much to my dismay, the white light was rather hypnotic. The white sparks rained down on me, where they landed the blisters shrunk and my energy returned.

I stood up and flexed my back, a few joints popped in response.

"How did you do that?" I asked in awe, she grinned.

"I made a wish."

….

"Does this place happen to have some jobs that don't involve getting turned into the roast for dinner?" I asked as June tightened a bandage around my chest, I yelped as it dragged along the remaining blisters under the bandage. She grinned through the end of the cloth in her jaws.

"It's that or make the dinner, but Alex and Ane seem to have taken that job," she giggled, then the grin turned into a devilish smirk, "I wonder how roast eevee tastes," she giggled. Her nose pushed against my forepaw as she pretended to examine a meal, she nipped at my toepads.

"Last time I checked that's called cannibalism," I mumbled as I pulled my paw away, shuffling along on my side as she stalked forwards. I rolled to my feet and took another step back, right against the wall by my nest, "And its frowned upon."

"I'm just kidding," she explained, I let out a breath I didn't realised I had been holding. Of course she was joking. She tried to nuzzle my check but I dropped onto my side and rolled onto my back, holding my paws out protectively. I bet I looked like some cub.

"I haven't known you since cubhood," I reminded her with a vague hope for last time's reaction, no such luck.

"Two days, cubhood, what's the difference?" she dismissed with a roll of her eyes, I opened my maw to object before realising she was pulling at my tail, not literally. She grinned.

"You scare me…" I squeaked.

"Ohh," she faked a gasp, she put on a hurt expression, "I'm so sorry…" she trailed off, a grin creeping across her face, "I didn't know you were scared of a furball."

"Furball?" I questioned, "You look more like a mop of fur to me," I grinned back at her, she made another gasp and whipped her tail across my nose.

"Unlike you I keep my fur in check," she smirked before making an about turn and marching off with her tail held high. I looked at myself, previously a tangle of caramel locks now singed locks of caramel in a dusty heap, she had a point.

"Any place for a bathe here?" I asked as I set off after her, she quickened her pace as if trying to avoid me. Wait. Now _she _was trying to avoid _me_? I adopted a jog as I pursued her out of the dorm, she continued out of the guild, she turned left toward the lake from last night, stopped by the edge. I walked up to her slowly, she was staring at the surface with a very interested sort of look.

"What ar-" I was cut off by a giggle as June grabbed my torso and rolled us into the water.

"How's that for a bath?" she asked, splashing me as I pulled my head over the surface.

"Bath?" I exclaimed, "I thought you were trying to drown me," she ignored me and splashed me with her paws, flicking her sodden tail over her head and spraying my face. I blew at my nose to get rid of the caramel locks plastered over my eyes. Despite myself a grin came over my features. I splashed her back.

…

It took me a while to find this through my scraps for this chapter, it may not all make sense since this chapter has been pasted together from all sorts of scraps but the next chapters should clear up. Ohh and please check out my other stories, _Fire and Light_ and _Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: In the Fire, _please read and review and as usual i don't own pokemon. Yet. Ok maybe that's being to optimistic.


	10. Ghost of a Memory

_**Ghost of a Memory**_

I made a face at June as we stepped onto the banks of the little pond.

"Was that necessary?"

"Yes," she grinned, "You need to have some fun," she added in a tone I would have put to a chansey.

"Not my idea of fun," I replied blandly.

"What is?" she asked, "Sitting around in a corner and sulking?" my lips were now set in a thin line, it was rather temping to tackle her into the pond, probably what she was going for. I couldn't help a grin, instead I nudged her with a paw.

"No, being chased by a farfetch'd teaches you two things; moping doesn't help and having fun isn't part of the equation," I told her. I made my way across the clearing, wet paw prints in my wake which June made of a game of stepping on.

"I bet it was, for the farfetch'd at least," she grinned.

"I don't know why I was expecting sympathy, or get you silent," I rolled my eyes. I sighed as I went under the arc, Harek gave a greeting.

"Hi, Harek," I replied, June walked passed me and flicked her tail at my nose, I snapped at the hairs but missed.

As we entered the main room the flash of sunlight on a small metal bug, an aron, caught my eye. I blinked a few times, I felt something drop away, something lifted off. I felt lighter. Right. I looked around; June had stopped and turned towards me, large eyes staring into mine. I reverted to my timid self from our first encounter.

I took an awkward step back.

"Weren't your eyes grey?" she asked and took another step towards me, "When you woke up that morning… I thought your eyes had been blue like mine, but they went grey as I focused on them, I thought it was just the dark," she explained, "But now, they're blue, again."

"They always were," I told her, I took a step back as she came closer to inspect me.

"June, what are you doing?" Ane interrupted, putting herself between us.

"Look at his eyes," she instructed, "They were grey, weren't they?" Ane turned around to inspect me, she nodded.

"They weren't, they've always been blue," I insisted with one paw hitting the ground with a soft thump, "Next you're going to say I never had caramel fur."

"You've had caramel fur at least since you've been here, _Caramel_," she retorted.

"Well they are now, now stop squabbling you two, it's time for the evening campfire, both of you look fit for a drying rack," Ane broke in, glancing at both of us with her calm eyes hiding something, her lips curled in the slightest of smiles.

I trailed behind, my tail went nervously from side to side. The comfort I had felt in this place a moment ago was gone. And what was all this talk about eye colour? I sat down beside June though I made sure there was space between us though Ane sat on my other side and forced me between them.

I waited as berries and skewers were passed around, Alex came to join us and the four of us roasted them together over the crackling flames.

"Guys, we're going on an expedition tomorrow to the Tunnel Woods. You guys know that there are tunnels under those woods, hence the name, and that they have a tendency of opening up at random times?" Quill explained, a nod echoed through the crowd, "So we'll be going in pairs to make sure no one gets trapped, or at least not alone. We need to patrol them, we can't have anyone sneaking up, the village depends on it."

Another series of nods passed through the group, I nodded along not to get singled out.

"That means we're a search party," June nudge me, I almost flinched at the idea of being stuck in the woods with her for who knew how long, or worse, some dark tunnels.

"Can I pair up with someone else?" I asked quietly, my ears drooped to either side.

June gave me glare. I leaned away, towards Ane who gave me a nudge back at June.

"You two won't make it out of the guild this way, one's over enthusiastic and the other scared out of his fur of his partner," Ane grinned.

"I'm not scared," I mumbled, "I'm… just, frightened…"

"Another word for scared," she told me, "Now stop trying to hide behind me," she grinned and gave me a none to gentle push towards June, we bumped shoulders and I fell against her before straightening up.

"That's better," giggled Alex, I barred my teeth at the two of them and shrank back to the point I fell off the log. I decided not to sit back between them and curled up behind the polished wood.

"Relax, I won't bite," June assured me, shrank deeper against the wood.

"…That's what you said last time," I glanced up at my ear which was still hanging crooked.

"This time I won't," she purred and nuzzled my mane.

_Something nuzzled my mane, once soft and smooth unlike its current affair. A motherly lick went up my cheek and my avatar squealed like a little kit, it was a kit. _

"_You'll get along just fine with J-"_

I felt a tear trickle down my cheek at the forgotten memory. Then I focused on what had woken me from my daydream.

"Earth to…" Ane trailed off as she saw my face, "What's wrong?"

"Just a memory," I replied solemnly, trying to recall the fast fading moment, "Or the ghost of one," the tear had made it to the corner of my lip; I licked it off, fighting off the many that wanted to follow.

June continued her insistent nuzzling.

"June, don't mother him," Ane scolded, seemingly for lack of another reason. June stopped turned back towards the flames as a monferno passed by with a bag of gummi. My tongue crept across my lips subconsciously as I eyed the treat. I knew that soon everyone would be jumping around as if full of caffeine or sugar.

I couldn't help a giggle of my own as an image of June after five or so gummi crossed my thoughts.

"You ok? she looked my way, I nodded soberly, "I heard you giggle and thought you'd gone crazy," she grinned, I opened my mouth before closing it just as fast. Her grin turned into a smile and she handed me a grey gummi.

"Thanks," I whispered. The sweet taste took my mind off the memory. A smile curled at the edges of my mouth. I looked at June who was busy eating another three gummi.

"H many toes am I holding up?" I raised my paw and made an effort to clench two toes, to no avail. She peered over and pretended to ponder over it.

"Twelve," she said finally with a giggle.

"Touch your nose," I told her, she giggled and reached out at mine. I brushed it off and glanced over at Ane, she and Alex were looking at us with smiles on their faces.

"Got any more tests for me?" she asked, one eyebrow raised as she gave me a sidelong look, unable to keep a straight face for too long.

"Nope, I'm done," I replied.

"A few more and she'll be chasing you down for a hug," Ane grinned. My eyes went wide. I stuck my face into my mane and put my paws over my head.

"A few more and he'll be in a burrow barred by a boulder," Alex corrected. _Not such a bad idea,_ I thought to myself.

"I'm not that bad if you guys have stayed around me since cubhood," June pointed out, she would have put her hands on her hips had she been bipedal but she settled for a look of annoyance.

"Not to us, to him," Alex explained. June paused for a moment to think before hanging her head down in front of mine.

I looked at the upside down eevee stemming from the log with a quizzical expression.

"Am I that bad?" she asked.

"Well…" I began looking for an escape route should things go wrong, thought I knew she was just as fast, probably faster, "Not really, just," I paused as I searched for a word, "…outgoing."

"See?" June shot back at the girls with a smug grin on her face, Ane gave a shake of her head and a sigh. I watched intently. June spotted this and pushed a gummi off the log from the stash they had between them. It rolled along the slope before falling on my nose. I ate it eagerly and looked up for more, she grinned and rolled another which I caught in my teeth mid fall.

"Can we keep him?" June pretended to plead with Ane. I sighed into my mane and curled up once again. Soon the circle behind me erupted with noise, in front of me long shadows danced across the dirt. Only one stayed consistent, the shadow of an eevee resting on the log behind me. Surprisingly she sat there the whole night, quiet and still.

"I think I'll go to bed," I whispered to her as the moon rolled into one of the windows. The shadow nodded.

"Me too," she replied. We walked off towards the dorm in silence, through the door. I made a move to go to my corner by the haystack.

"You'll freeze," she told me, I looked around at the other nests littering the floor. All were huddled close to one scorch mark or other, "It was a warm night yesterday, you got lucky with your nap outside." A cool breeze came in through one of the windows and circled the room before passing us. A shiver ran through my body in the wake of a ripple passing through my fur.

"Suppose I was," I admitted. She nodded and pointed up at the hammocks above the windows.

"That one is free," she told me before walking over to one the nets sloping down from the middle of the room. Her paws expertly went along the rope work, never once slipping or stepping through a hole. I watched in awe as I did before, then I remembered my attempt.

"I cant get up the nets," I reminded her. She paused, one paw went up from the net and to her chin.

"I'll help you," she concluded and made her way gracefully down the net to where I was standing. She nodded at the hammocks.

I nodded back to her and stepped up to the net. My legs buckled immediately with the unstable footing, June reacted and went up beside me, nudging me with her torso to lean against hers. I did so thankfully. We made our way in a companionable silence up to the hammocks, more than once I'd gotten stuck in a hole and June had had to pull me out.

With a grunt she managed to push me off the net and into the hammock, after which she jumped into the one below.

"How's the hammock, Caramel?" she asked from below.

"Tipsy," I replied as I tried to stand up on the swaying fabric. There was a block of hay on the other end for bedding which I wanted to use.

"Relax, you're legs are to stiff," she instructed, I paused. It was true my legs were locked at their knees, _how did she know that?_ "Share the weight between your legs, you have four of them, make use of them. And roll with it if the hammock sways or gives way slightly."

"Thanks," I whispered. I continued on, trying to relax though with each rock of the hammock my efforts were undone.

"You'd think you were a diglett with how stiff you are up there," she teased just as the hammock swayed again, my legs locked up and I tipped towards the hammock's edge. The hammock flipped and dropped me into June's, "Didn't you know it's not polite to drop in without asking?" she asked.

"I haven't had any lessons in manners," I groaned as I pulled my face from the fabric.

"No, I don't mind," she continued, "Just don't tip _this one _ over," she teased.

"Can I?" I asked hopefully, going back on the net right now didn't sound appealing, neither did traversing a hammock on my own. She raised an eyebrow.

"Sure…" she replied, then something seemed to come to mind, "I knew you couldn't stay away from me, Caramel."

I went red in the face, somehow she could turn every accident I had around her into a token of my crush on her.

"I've got some spare hay," she told me, pointing to a pile set neatly at my end of the hammock. _Neat,_ that was a word to describe her hammock, everything was tidily arranged, her nest was as round as you could get a pile of straw on a hammock with an extra brick of straw at one end I guessed was a pillow.

I flattened the pile at my end into a rough nest and settled amongst the straw.

"Goodnight," she whispered from her end.

"Nite," I replied, falling asleep before the nest slipped slightly along the fabric.

...

Changed some aspects of the chapter because June seemed a bit out of character to me, and i didnt quite like how it was.


	11. Sandy Saviour

_**Sandy Saviour **_

_I can't say I wish I didn't get out of bed, despite everything. Maybe I didn't know him before, but I couldn't help but get attached. I'm back, anyways, and I'll be fine, nothing too bad happened, and something I wouldn't trade away, did._

Sunlight crept over my nose, but I refused to wake up, scrunching up my face in an attempt to block out the brightness. I heard a few giggles. Something in front of me felt warm, I shuffled closer against the soft bundle. It did the same.

My eyes snapped open in time with June's, we were nose to nose. We mirrored a blush before I made a rapid shuffle away. She got up in a much more elegant manner, though my flailing-and the effect it had on the hammock- made her fall which set the hammock swinging.

My body slid across the fabric and over the edge.

"Ohh brother," I murmured as I felt the edge slide out from under me, I made a desperate attempt to grab the fabric with my paws but found no purchase.

"Going up?" Alex giggled as she flew under me. I fell rather roughly on her back which made her dip. She quickly recovered and flew us back up to the hammock, above which she barrel rolled and dropped me beside June.

"Funny," I mumbled sarcastically.

"A matter of perspective," Ane came out in their defence.

"Plus, we didn't do it, your nests were already sliding together when we went to bed," Alex explained.

"And you just sat there, letting it happen?" June raised her eyebrows.

"Nope, we lay there letting it happen," Ane smiled innocently.

"How about we get going?" I suggested, I was getting suspicious of anything else Ane and Alex would do or were waiting for.

"After you," June smiled, I knew what she was waiting for. I peered over the edge at what could be my worst enemy at this guild, the net. I leapt off the hammock and barred my claws at the net, hoping for some purchase more than to intimidate the ropes.

Luckily, my paws managed to grasp the net and I made my way slowly down a few steps; before slipping and rolling the rest of the way, only just before it ended did my hind paw get tangled in the rope work. I was left hanging upside down with my ears hanging through the holes.

"This is not a very young-male-eevee-friendly environment," I complained.

"How so?" June stopped beside me, being sure to show and exaggerate how easy it was for her to traverse the net.

"Between the young-female eevee, her companions and this net I'm sure the young-male eevee feels rather uncomfortable," I explained in the vague hope the message got across.

Ane and Alex shared a giggle as they went past me and out the door.

"Poor dear," June cooed-here, a spark of hope flashed in my mind-, she leaned in and licked my face I squirmed in an attempt to dodge her but only dislodged my paw which sent me head first into a square of the net-and here it vanished-, "Does that make you feel better?"

"…No," I muttered as planted my paws on the ground which sat a paws breadth from my head.

"My goodness Caramel," she began, she was putting on an accent I'd heard plenty of times from the chieftain's daughter back at the village, had it not been for the accent I would have guessed she was genuinely concerned for my safety-at least I was, my neck was pressed painfully against the rope-, "I didn't know you could perform such pawstands!"

"He… lp," I choked. Instead of the lift away from Alex I had expected, I felt something bite my tail and drag it over to my front which sent me into a backward roll, my head slipping cleanly through the hole. I reached the end of the net mid roll and fell on my tail.

"Your welcome," June sat cutely on the net, a smile sitting blissfully on her muzzle.

She jumped down after me and nuzzled my chest, I shuffled back quickly, just in time to avoid her.

"You remember what I told you when we met?" I asked.

" 'go be friendly somewhere else?'?" she grumbled back.

"No, but you could work on that, too," I replied, "I said: 'this eevee is getting scared', it still applies."

She giggled and followed my awkward shuffles, "You were more fun when you're eye were grey, you'd actually smiled and even gave me nudges, it's like we're strangers for the second time," she moaned, yet I couldn't agree more with those words, except second.

I looked down at my feet and the tail between them. That aside I knew June-well, as well as you can knew someone after however many days it's been, maybe even one step further- but it felt more like I'd just been told about my memories, not lived through any of them aside from that morning, before Will and Quill came around the second time. So it was like I was meeting a stranger for a second time.

"I suppose it is," I mumbled as I raised my head. Me and June were eye to eye. I yipped and fell backwards.

"You act like you haven't been friends with anyone in your life," she told me. A small whimper escaped me, a sob. I was about to lash out at June but held myself back, all she knew about my life were snippets, probably the most detailed piece of information I gave her was that I had disagreements with a farfetch'd.

"Caramel?" she asked uncertainly, I ignored her and continued with my thoughts. Then again, she hadn't told me anything about her past. All I knew-or thought, rather- was she had a personal connection to the drapion, a bad one.

"Caramel!" she repeated insistently, now a note of concern in her voice, her trademark smile no longer present. I looked up at her, "Are you ok?"

"Yeah," I replied, it sounded more like a sob than I'd intended. She reached up with a paw to my eye and brushed away a tear.

A grim reality about how little I knew about the pokémon who cared the most about me, I wasn't even sure how much she cared.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Reality sucks," I replied in the most depressing tone I'd used since I arrived. From past to present nothing was really rose tinted for me. I hid my face in my mane to hide the flow of tears that followed, I managed to stay silent.

"What happened?" she asked, there was a silent pause in which I thought she'd left. Then I felt something nuzzle my neck, it moved around as it searching for something. I felt it get closer and closer to it's target, my limbs shut down and relaxed, my head dropped out of my mane and I lay down against the dirt with June still nuzzling my neck; finally hitting a soft spot.

"No use hiding from you, I suppose," I murmured, she shook her head and her smile returned. That smile; it could set my nerves on edge or drive me crazy but now it felt good, that cute and friendly smile.

"None at all." she continued "Now are you going to tell me what's wrong or do I have to force it out of you?"

She gave me a lick on the nose to ease the statement.

"Later, maybe in the forest." I murmured as I left the dorm, June stayed close behind.

"Come on," Quill urged us from the other end of the tunnel, "The rapidash wagon's going to leave." With that he ran off towards the exit, we followed.

The trip was uneventful, just a bunch of kids-kids, I still couldn't wrap my head around why we were doing it- in a wagon, curled up along the edge, some talking, others played some games, only the ones that could fly seemed to be enjoying themselves in a game of chase above the wagon.

"Caramel?" June asked from beside me, I uncurled slightly and looked at June who was stretched out with her back to the wagon's side, "I like you blue eyed better, back when we first met, I was kidding, before," she assured me. I managed a smile.

After that I'd curled up again and stayed that was until the wagon stopped.

"Everyone out," Will shouted, there were a few moans as those around me got up.

"Come on, a quick search of the woods is all we need to do," urged Quill.

I stood up and leapt out of the wagon, after the constant vibration from the wagon's planks the solid earth felt strange. June leapt down beside me and led the way to the treeline.

The trees seemed packed together like a wall, not a crack big enough for a caterpie between any two trunks, except in front of us. The final two trees on either side before the gateway of sorts sloped in, each trunk entangled with vines which got thicker and more densely packed further up the trunk until they broke away in a braid and arced over to each other, entwining over the middle of the arc.

June led us through, on the other side there was a dirt path amongst the trees, ahead I saw a clearing. Oddly, there was grass under the trees, everywhere, only the dirt path was untouched by vegetation.

"Stick to the path, mystery dungeons can enchant those that stray from the path or fall asleep in them; those that become enchanted by it stay and go wild. You know about ferals, right?" June explained, I nodded. Ferals were pokémon who were as their name implied; feral. They were wild and attacked anything they saw. Luckily, they were rarely found outside of mystery dungeons. Though I didn't know too much about mystery dungeons themselves.

"What's a mystery dungeon?" I asked.

"It's a maze, aside from the defining trait that dangerous pokémon roam it looking for a fight, once you go past the first level, you have to finish it. To get from one level to another you walk through the doorways, they look like giant grey stones standing upright at a dead end, and when you go through them they disappear behind you. You won't be able to walk out of a mystery dungeon by cutting through the forest and going straight, no one knows why but you always end up back where you started as soon as you lose sight of the path. You have to get to the end. The end's is just another location, once there you can walk back through the final stone-it's the only one that stays once you walk through it- and you'll walk out of the entrance. Here," she explained. I gave several uncertain nods as I filed away the information.

June turned back to the arch and headed off into the dungeon, I hurried after her. In the maze I found myself sticking unusually close to June, only going closer after a few brown birds had mistaken me for a caterpie. Luckily-and rather embarrassingly for me- June saved me from the trio of pidgey.

I felt a vibration roll across the ground, _You guys know that there are tunnels under those woods,_ Quill's words echoed in my head, _they have a tendency of opening up at random times_. I tackled June to the side, my paws barely lifting off as the ground below us fell away into a black chasm. June landed clear of the tear that had opened in the ground while I was struggling at its edge.

She reached out towards me with a paw which I gladly took, the tear began to close, threatening to weld shut around my waist.

"Help!" I yipped, June didn't need prompting, her teeth and eyes were clenched shut with effort as she pulled at my paw.

In a last, desperate attempt I threw a hind leg over the edge and let out my claws, finding purchase quickly and making a mad scramble away from the void, into June. I ran into June and sent us booth tumbling off the path and onto the soft green tufts of grass.

"I knew you liked me, Caramel," she said through a smile before giving me a playful lick on the nose. I stared back blankly with a slight shade of pink showing through my fur.

"I... umm… …the hole," I stuttered, finishing the would have been sentence in a murmur.

"I know," she smiled, now the smile was just infuriating. But I was a self contained eevee so I just scrunched up my nose and gave a grumble.

With that short exchanged we got up and continued our way, quickly finding the stone marker June had described. The surface although coloured like stone had ripples passing through like the surface of a pond. I poked it uncertainly.

"Is this… safe?" I asked.

"I don't know," June shrugged, I knew she was doing this to worry me, sadly a seed of doubt still etched at me.

Though the same didn't apply to her, she walked straight through with a flick of her tail in my direction and a whisper of 'torchic'. I growled and charged after her, I regretted it instantly. The liquid stone washed over me and all sense of direction fell away, for a moment it was as if I was falling, I just didn't know in what direction. Then the liquid washed away, my sense of gravity returned, sadly it meant I fell headfirst in front of a grinning June.

I sighed and decided to address our familiarity issues: "June?"

"Caramel?" she asked back, I sighed again, she grinned and did the same.

"Why were you gloomy before I appeared?" I asked; she froze up.

"I wasn't," she lied half heartedly.

"You weren't 'your normal self' before I came along, that means gloomy. With two capital Gs," I insisted.

"I grew up around the guild, my parents were explorers," she began, "I'd already lost one pokemon close to me to the drapion-an eevee like us- before I was told the village my parents were garrisoned in had been attacked by the same drapion. That news my parents were gone came three months ago," she explained, "That eevee and me were like siblings, his parents and mine were close, out of the two families only I'm left," she sobbed.

"Sorry," I whispered, "I shouldn't be poking my nose into things, you do that better, anyway," her eyes cleared and she allowed herself a smile.

"You sure know what to say," she laughed.

"I do?" I wasn't sure where I'd turned things around.

"It seems you don't _know_, but you manage," she giggled, "So, how about a lesson in 'the history of Caramel'?"

"Burning horizon, orphan in a village, village gets burnt down, I get rescued by a riolu and to this day another eevee torments me," I mumbled, "Memorize that and you ace the test."

"Torment?" she drew herself up.

"In a good way," I added quickly. _Idiot_.

"Well you'll get a whole lot more of that wonderful torment," she gave me a lick on the nose. I scrunched up my nose. I wasn't quite satisfied with the overviews we'd given each other, but partners grew together, I suppose.

"Goodie," I replied sarcastically. She lunged with another lick which I deftly avoided, co incidentally I stumbled a few steps back. June giggled and turned to leave.

A growl rolled through the earth. My eyes went wide as I felt the ground below me give way. June turned back, a single word resting on her lips as I fell into the abyss that broke open below me: Caramel.

I let out a piercing scream as I fell through the black abyss-above me the tear re sealed-, a few seconds passed in free fall before I hit the ground below. A heavy thump echoed the chasm, followed by the crack as my head whipped against the dirt.

I gasped for air. I tried to move my paws but couldn't, I couldn't see them, either. My consciousness softened and faded, I was vaguely aware of a flickering light making its way towards me from behind.

…

Two heavy eyelids bobbed up and down as consciousness returned, I yawned sleepily as my eyes adjusted to the bright flames in front of me. Through the red tongues which lapped the air I could see a sandy porcupine, rows of brown quills flexed along the length of his back and a pair of pearly claws poking at the glowing red coals. I winced.

With one paw planted on the ground I made a move to get up. My body screamed in protest, I would have followed suit.

I made a move to get up, my body screamed in protest but I forced myself upright.

"You have that look, _his_ look," the sandslash spoke up, two triangular ears twitched.

"Who?" I slouched against a stone pillar behind me.

"But you have more of her, a kind soul, never seen an eevee like you," he ignored me and carried on, his eyes glazed in a faraway look.

"Her?" I echoed like a chatot, he sighed in response as intelligence returned to his eyes.

"You need to rest, boy," he told me, his voice was coarse but the words were anything but harsh. My ears fell to either side, I felt strangely enchanted by his words, I wanted to hear some more.

"Do you live here?" I asked.

"Yes, I've been here for…" he trailed off, "…a long time."

"I've gone around lately," I replied for lack of better conversation, "I used to live in a village as an orphan, it got destroyed by a drapion recently. Then this guild rescued me, I joined it and ended up here."

"Guild?"

"Yeah, it looks like a giant ledian, one antenna by the entrance is crooked, though," I replied.

"The legendaries play strange games of fate," he murmured.

"So they do," I thought back to the burning horizon in my memory. Maybe I hadn't just lost one home in my life.

"Do you have a partner?" he questioned, I perked my ears.

"Yeah, another eevee, she's a handful," I replied, "Girls…"

The sandslash chuckled, "Yes, they are," he agreed, "Describe her," he made a gesture for me to go on.

"Well, insistent, likes licking me on the nose, no sense of shyness and better than me at everything," I replied, adding the last part reluctantly, "But of course, she's been at it for waaay longer," I added.

"Ha, seems familiar," he laughed, I wasn't sure weather he was talking about June or me, or both.

"You know someone like her?" I asked.

"Rest," he repeated, ignoring my question, "I'll wake you later, your partner cares, she'll be looking for you."

My ears drooped. I'd wanted to talk more. Reluctantly I lay back down and drowsiness regained me.

…

"Wake up," the sandslash spoke up; long pearly claws ruffled the fur atop my hair.

"Good morning?" I greeted uncertainly. He gave a smile which softened his features.

"Head that way," he gestured behind me, "You'll find your friend."

"Are you coming?" I asked hopefully, he smiled again but shook his head.

"Not yet," he replied. _Yet_. I cocked my head, "Go on," he urged, I tried drooping my ears and making the most innocent look I could muster, he shook his head but couldn't help a grin. Never worked before, anyways.

I sighed and stood up, nothing hurt surprisingly.

"Go," he repeated. I turned away reluctantly, making my way in the direction he'd pointed. I heard the scrape of claws on dirt, once, twice. I turned around, the sandslash was gone, a fresh burrow now in his place. I sighed and carried on.

I walked for what seemed to be ages, in this place with barely any light I could have been going in circles for all I knew. Then something appeared on the ceiling, two fissures traced an open rectangle with the light that seeped in the cracks behind them.

"June!" I called out, I don't know why I called out her name, or why so eagerly. The rectangular sheet of earth swung down like a drawbridge, making a ramp up to the surface. At its end stood a bulky purple reptile. Spines went along it's back and crested it's large ears. It's hide was like plated armour and it's pale underbelly just short of a mirror. Around it from the ground flashed a pale golden aura which only added to the blinding effect.

"Not June," I whimpered at the sight of the nidoking, he gave a toothy grin as he saw me amidst the spotlight created by the hole above me. A dark red hound with black stripes came into view and made his way down the ramp. A fluffy tail wavered momentarily as it caught the last of the breeze before he disappeared below the surface. At each ankle was a tuft of pale orange tuft of fur to match the tail and mane. His face was almost lost against the fluff, save for his eyes.

He sported something between a snarl and a grin of satisfaction. Behind him tracked a pale grey wolf, it's back and tail covered in a darker cape of fur. Four paws bore similar gloves, he looked no more welcoming than the other two.

"Well; the one who escaped," the arcanine laughed, "The recruits must be getting worse by the battle," he chuckled, the two behind him did the same.

"Who are you?" I squealed.

"Doesn't matter, we're taking you with us, we need to set an example after the embarrassment you caused," he went on, "One of the mightiest gangs in our history and a little eevee escapes."

"T-the dra-drap-drapion?" I stuttered, "No! I'm not going!" I shouted. My paws skipped across the ground as I made a wild charge towards the arcanine.

"Hypocrite," he rolled his eyes and swatted me with a paw, sending me sailing over the edge of the ramp and onto the dirt. A blast of fire followed me. He leapt after me and landed with a heavy thud.

I felt jaws close across my torso, teeth making no attempt to be gentle as they crushed my ribcage. I was lifted roughly as he leapt back up to the ramp, a rather violent experience from inside his jaws.

"Courage won't save you," the mightyena hissed. I flailed angrily, only succeeding in making the teeth dig deeper and draw blood.

"Neither with cowardice save you!" a familiar voice roared at them. I couldn't turn to face the speaker, I didn't need to. A volley of double edged stones cut through the air and struck the mightyena. I heard bones crack as he rolled back.

The earth shook. The top of the ramp tore as if a rag, we fell, the nidoking, arcanine and me in his jaw. The hound whipped against the ground, his head smashing into the ground, the effect doubled for me as I was hammered into the ground from the fall.

The arcanine struggled up. I was still in his jaws, amazed I wasn't in two pieces. The sandslash stood encircled by the trio. He thrust his claw into the ground, three fissures erupted and zig zaged towards their targets, below them the earth cracked open and they fell into a cramped vice each, the arcanine finally dropping me from my jaw.

"Ooof!" I winded myself against the ground. The crack I'd landed on closed slightly, the response were three agonized cries.

"Touch this boy again-ever!- and I will personally bring your gang to dust. Give me a reason, any!" the sandslash roared, swiftly bridging the distance between him and the arcanine. His claw dug under the chin of the now panicked arcanine, "Give me one, go!"

"None!" the arcanine cried. Then I saw the look on the sandslash's face. Black eyes gleamed with menace and his face was wrinkled and displayed every scar he'd earned. His small teeth bared in a vicious growl. This was hatred. The sandslash raised his other claw, ready to strike a mortal wound.

"Today I leave you, but be warned," he scowled at the arcanine, "All of you!" he roared at the other two. He turned to me, I would have quivered but nothing seemed to work, my eyes were barely open, "Wait for your partner," he sighed. Another tremor. An earthy ramp rose up from the ground to the tear above us.

I wanted to shout something, a thanks in the least, instead he spoke up, "I'll see you soon, Caramel," he sighed, a smile spreading across his face as he said my name. I was too weak to wonder over the words. He ran to the shadows and disappeared from sight.

"Caramel!" June's familiar voice cried out, I could hear tears in her voice. I saw her figure run up to the ramp on the surface side, behind her a wagon with Will and Quill came into view.

"June!" I whimpered, it was enough. Her gazed locked onto mine as she sprinted down the ramp. I let out a groan as consciousness fell away.


	12. A Buried Brotherhood

_Not much to say this time, just that I don't think pidgey will be a problem anymore…_

My eyes tilted open, a crosshatch of vines was the first thing I saw, not like the dorms, though. The hammock- hold on, it was a bed. I groaned and turned my head for a look around the room, it was the medical ward. And June, sleeping at my side just like before.

_By Dialga!_ I thought to myself. However, the thought of having time travelled vanished quickly as I recalled the events in the tunnels. The half healed burns screamed as I recalled the arcanine, red dots traced an arc across the bandaging on my chest, one for each tooth. It was sunken in places from what could be a broken rib; speaking of the things, I wouldn't be surprised if a few more had been broken in the bandaging, it was hard to breath.

I let out another groan as a throbbing headache set in, I guessed I'd hit that too by the stray bandage hanging over my eye. Beside me, though, was a stack of oran berries. I reached out and plucked one from the pile. The berry was a welcome relief to my dry lips.

That was enough for now, I thought to myself as the berry slid down my throat. An ear beside me perked as June started to wake up.

"Morning," I said quietly-I didn't feel I could muster much more than a whisper- as I went over the events from before a final time; from the sound of her then, the sandslash was right, she cared. Looking at her now she seemed to have been here for the whole time, I felt ashamed about considering she didn't care back in the mystery dungeon.

"I'd say cheer up but I suppose you have a right to be gloomy now, but there was amazing what you did, you buried those three waist deep in the ground!" June exclaimed, I felt a barrage of questions coming up and reached out to put a paw over her maw.

"I didn't, a sandslash did," I corrected her.

"Sandslash?" she replied, only I seemed to be in the dark about these hidden relations.

"You know him?" I asked, I'd get this answer out of her. Somehow.

"No," she seemed steadfast.

"He kept talking about _'him'_ and _'her'_, first word I paired those with was _'parents'_ and I don't even know mine," I continued.

"I think I'm starting to forget mine," her ears dropped and her eyes fell to her paws, "Mom's lullaby, I never knew the words, I couldn't make them out; dad's sense of humour only he seemed to get, I can't remember his jokes," a tear rolled off a strand of her fur as she sobbed the words. I was about to offer moral support -well, try to- but she sobered up quickly, her smile returned in an instant.

"Why so cheery?" I asked, seems rude expecting-and encouraging if you want to see me as a bad guy- her to cry.

"I'll see them again, learn the lullaby and memorize dad's jokes to the letter," she declared with a blind optimism, except, not quite blind.

"Maybe we have something in common," I murmured, not quite a good thing, but a start is a start, right? One less reason for me not to mope about my losses, at the very least.

"Smile and we'll have something else," she grinned.

"Soon enough pokemon won't be able to tell us apart," I replied with a heavy note of sarcasm, her ears drooped in the same manner along with a mock sob. I rolled my eyes and grinned back, they perked again.

For a moment she vanished below the edge of the bed, then re emerged less than a second later with two berries held between her teeth.

She dropped them infront of me with a single word: "Eat," she told me as a pale blue strawberry rolled against my paw. I plucked up and ate the rawst berry, then the plump and slightly darker in colour oran berry she nudged my way.

"You know what I say?" I replied as I plucked up the berry, she shrugged, "Because I have nothing in common with the shopkeeper, it means I probably have stuff in common with someone else -someone nicer, hopefully."

"What does that have to do with now?" She asked.

"Not much," I shrugged back, "but it kept my hopes up as he chased me with a leek,"

I was surprised at the pause before her response, it got her thinking. Who knew what was stirring in her head, best to dispel any wrong ideas.

"It just came to mind because we were talking about commonalities, it made me think there was someone else like me, not that I was hoping someone else had their home burned down, just…" I sighed, "I sound sadistic don't I?"

She shook her head, "Not at all, you're only pokémon, its ok to have these things, they're called _feelings_," she giggled.

"Very funny," I mumbled, "I feel so much less sadistic, now I feel apathetic."

"Well, the sun's coming up, hopefully your mood will brighten as the room does," she suggested as she jumped up beside me and leaned carefully against my side as not to wake a burn. I paused as I considered what to do, moving away quickly would be me jabbing at my wounds, then again, I wasn't quite sure I wanted to move away this time.

Just as last time Will and Quill walked through the door, booth shared a grin as they saw us, I did my best to keep a caramel face. One of June's ears dropped against my head as they walked up to my bed.

"Good morning?" Will suggested, he seemed uncertain, I was too.

"I'm hopefull," it came as a groan as my burns came alive, "Where are the arcanine and his buddies?"

"We left them there, our aim was to get away with you before they woke up, surprised you managed them," Quill said, impressed.

"I didn't," I admitted.

"Told you," Will boasted in a whisper to Quill, "Air head," he added just to annoy him.

"He could have," Quill growled back.

"A sandslash did," I broke in to stop an oncoming fight, "Same one who helped me get over the fall through the ground."

"He was obviously a helpful guy, like you two could be if you stopped arguing," June added.

The two grinned back sheepishly, however there was something not quite sheepish behind their expressions.

"Well, we'll go talk to the guild master," Will said after a pause, not what I was expecting. The two hurried out without another word with no note of foolery as they darted towards the door.

"Good morning to them too I suppose," I closed the now one sided conversation.

"Normally they have a lot of boring talk to go through, consider it a stroke of luck," June commented. I made the translation of 'boring' into 'official' quite quickly.

"I don't suppose I can pretend to faint now and skip all the giggle filled talk between us?" I asked hopefully, the events of our first meeting did a re run in my head.

"Hey!" she protested, though the effect was spoiled as she burst into a giggle halfway through. No chance of that now I suppose.

"Didn't think so," I sighed, she batted my shoulder in response. Before I had time to discipline her she'd bitten my ear and tipped herself off the side of the bed, naturally I followed with a yip and a hurried attempt to keep my ear attached.

I managed to avoid falling in the worst of ways and recovered rather quickly; experience, I suppose. I saw words forming on her lips.

"Why do you stick around with me?" I asked before she could start some irrelevant conversation, "I mean, out of anyone to partner up with: you chose the most useless pokémon you can find. I can't climb a net, can't fend off a pidgey and got beaten by a bunch of gir-" I paused, "…Am very bad at fighting. Not exactly the kind of pokémon you want watching your back in a battle,"

"You stopped me from falling through the ground back in the forest," she commented.

"Any one of them –I gestured through the door to the frenzied guild members- could have done it, probably without nearly falling through the ground themselves," I replied. As much as this conversation was helping my self esteem, I wanted to get an answer from her.

She paused for a moment and tilted her head up to think, after a few seconds she looked back at me "Keep your eyes open and soon you'll see," I didn't get her wit, but apparently it was funny because I heard a giggle.

"They are open in case you hadn't noticed," I replied uncertainly, though I was pretty sure that wasn't what she meant. As I finished my sentence the one who had giggled leapt up onto the bed, Ane.

"The last thing I'll learn is the sense of humour here," I mumbled.

"Come on, it's breakfast time," Ane prompted.

"No thanks, I'm full," I replied with a rub of my stomach.

"Full being a relative term," June replied with a poke at my stomach, "If you don't eat properly you won't ever be able to fend off a pidgey."

"I prefer flight to fight," I replied.

"Last time I checked it's the pidgey that have wings, not you," she replied with her brows furrowed as if in deep consideration, she then pretended to inspect my back in case I'd sprouted a pair.

"Its an expression," I sighed, I'd need to teach her about _maturity_.

"You guys go ahead," I piped up after a short silence before running off and towards the guild's exit. I'd been meaning to do this for a while.

A minute later found me by the rocks which rose through the still watered lake by the guild. I tried to call up the memory from that night. Nothing.

I sighed, me and my memory. Although, here, it didn't feel so foreign like the rest of the guild; there was a strange familiarity about it since that memory. It made me want to stay here, sleep at the top like I did before.

I sighed again, it was just me growing familiar with this place. I turned around to face the rest of the guild, still somewhat alien to my eyes. And June. She was walking towards me with a smile on her face, as to be expected.

"How about a change of scenery?" she asked, I shrugged.

"What do you mean?"

"Let's go to the town nearby, get a treat, buy some supplies," she explained, "Plus; it's a nice place."

"Lead the way," I gestured with a paw towards the only road leading off from the guild.

"So I will," she puffed up her mane and tail, I rolled my eyes. She set off without another word, I set pace behind her. Behind us I could see Ane giving me a questioning look from the guild's entrance and dipped my torso in an eevee's shrug; she giggled. What was it with the giggles?

Ten minutes down the track -or something like that, give or take half an hour-, the straw topped huts of the town came into view around a corner in the road. There was an ally of shops leading to the town square which housed a treasury, judging by the piles of poké and stacked chests which held the aforementioned.

Down the alley there was nothing much of interest, mostly just regular houses, except for a stall manned by a pale yellow feline, a red gem on it's head seemed to watch me as keenly as the eyes below it.

"Can we hurry?" I whispered to June, who, naturally, took it as an invitation to race. 'Hurry' seemed to be her trigger given she dashed off at the mention of the word.

" 'They're called _feelings' _" I mumbled to myself, I managed to get the way she said it pretty accurately which didn't help my mood, it felt like I was mocking myself, "Well it's called maturity and common sense, I doubt she's ever heard of those."

I took my time catching up to June, as much as I hated to admit it her company was starting to feel good, and normal, though it stayed as annoying as ever, so I savoured the moments of distance.

June froze as she turned to face an intersecting alley, she turned her head quickly to look at me, "Caramel, ru-" she was cut off as the purple paw of a nidoking closed around her neck. It took me a mere two seconds to react, one too late. The nidoking from the forest turned the corner and launched a pale beam from the horn that adorned it's head.

Consciousness didn't take it's time in leaving, there was only darkness to my eyes despite the bright beam which hit me.

…

"Caramel?" the voice was familiar, by now it had become synonymous to the morning, for me, at least.

"June," I replied, for lack of anything better to say, as my eyelids rose above my pupils.

"We're in an arena, our turn is coming soon," she spoke into my ear as her nose nudged it up.

"I can fight," she continued, "But I'm worried about you, can you hold your own?"

"No," I replied grimly, "Don't worry about that, no sense in risking yourself for my tail."

"There is," she insisted.

"Why?" I demanded, I didn't give her time to respond, it didn't look like she would, though a blush settled her features, "I've walked away from two horizons alight, I will or won't walk out of that arena by my own paws."

"There's always a reason," she whispered.

"They," I gestured at the guards which were moving towards the lock, "have a reason. A reason isn't always good."

"Come on," a mightyena growled from the door of the now opened cell. June and I exchanged a glance before obeying his command. We were led through a series of mudbrick corridors and up one flight of stairs before we were met with any light aside from that of a torch, even then it was barred by a portcullis.

There was well oiled creak if such as think could exist as the gears, polished smooth through regular use, began to raise the grate. The mightyena halted, we did, too, until he growled at us to keep moving.

As we stepped out into the open space of the arena, I couldn't, despite the situation, stop and be disappointed, critical, even, of it's appearance; it was simple, a mere plain of dust encircled by bleachers pale with age. The turnout was big, I wasn't too sure on where I stood with that, though.

Our opponents were next to reach my eyes, most of them were kids, like me which made me uneasy, some were even younger.

"It makes me sick," June mumbled, "they prey on only what they know they can beat, I'd like to see them attack the Polis, how they'd get crushed."

"The Polis, the city," I translated to myself. It was somewhat of a surprise, my view of the world consisted of straw roof huts. A city was something of myth for me.

"Contestants," a figure, the arcanine from before, sat in a somewhat more official box among the bleachers, "Fight!" the words were spoken in a loud, but casual tone which I could imagine was accompanied by a smirk too far for me to see.

"Stay close," June whispered.

"Keep your own tail safe," I told her. The argument which would have followed didn't take place, I turned to face her for a reply, I barely caught sight of her fur before it was swallowed by a burning torrent. My eyes followed the stream of fire to it's source, a houndour.

The black hound closed his jaws and lowered his head to display the skull helm which occupied his forehead, to match his other bone decorations; pale braces along his back and heavy anklets at his paws. I turned back to June, she'd collapsed and didn't seem to have much control over the groans and coughing fits which left her.

"Ohh boy," I sighed as the weight of responsibility settled where it didn't belong. My eyes turned for the final time to the houndour who had aimed his muzzle at the ground and let out a blast of fire now spilling out towards us.

"Come on June, get up, you're a big girl," I moaned as I nudged at June's side, only managing a few moans for a response. She obviously wasn't going to get up and avoid the attack, and she probably couldn't take another. _Great,_ I thought to myself. Surprisingly it didn't take long for a plan to arise.

I bolted for the houndour with my paws barely touching the ground, eventually lifting off before the burning wave swept by. There were several bounds left between us for me to cover, and the leapt wouldn't be enough. I planted a paw amidst the flames, the fur held the red plumes off my flesh for a moment before it turned to burning cynders which broke as they were blown against my flesh. I kicked my hind paws into the air, launching myself over the paw before letting them drop over the other side.

From the corners of my eyes I saw a gleam pass over my fur on it's way to my tail, leaving each hair behind it with a metallic ring. The crack that followed almost went without saying as my tail made contact with the skull helm on his forehead. The stream stopped at my paw; each remaining ember slowed, no longer pushed ahead by the torrent, burning out almost in place.

The next second dragged on as my paw lost it's place against the ground and June, untouched by anymore embers, came into all too soon as I hit the ground on my side.

"One step at a time, this time I landed an attack," I huffed the words out as I rolled to my feet. The houndour nearby was faring worse, the skull atop his head was split in two and he showed no signs of being conscious.

I let out a sigh of relief before taking to my feet. I was met by the sight of a riolu running at me, one paw ready at it's waist to strike. He was a mere few paces away and my limbs froze in place as the danger set in.

_Dodge. Step. Retaliate!_ a drill sergeant shouted the sequence from inside my head as the riolu slowed with his final step. Under my muzzle I could see the faint projection of an eevee, hardly much more than a month in age, as he lowered his chin to the ground; I followed suit. The riolu's paw flew between my ears, embedding itself uselessly in the fluff of my tail, though I was too busy with the cub to notice. The cub seemed to drift to the side, his ghastly paws dancing across the dirt, two steps each so that he flanked the riolu.

_That's step…_ I thought to myself as I mirrored his actions from the other side, as I took the final step, the final step came to mind: retaliate. On the riolu's other side was the eevee, his face painted with a childish determination, his tongue peering out from between his teeth. I nodded to him, knowing I wouldn't get a response.

We both crouched, an aura tracked each of our movements, leaving a solid path of white behind each of our actions. I lagged for a moment as the riolu turned to face me before pouncing at his chest with speed neither of us could register. The impact didn't last long; the riolu stumbled away while I touched down smoothly where we'd collided.

I shook my head to get rid of the dull feeling from the impact before rushing back to June who had been left alone since I'd left her.

"Two down, now get up before my winning streak ends!" I urged her. There were already a few others on their way to attack us by the time I'd spoken the sentence.

June gave me the same response as before, a moan.

"Leave them!" a voice roared out, everyone stopped, me included to face the speaker and find out who he was addressing –and who 'them' was, more importantly.

..-..-..

"They were taken, a nidoking let the bandits according to the townspeople," Will explained to the bug type hovering across the desk.

"Caramel was found by a nidoking," Quill added.

"The drapion," The ledian hissed. The two pokemon infront of him recoiled, despite the pokemon's non threatening appearance, much smaller and slimmer than the building modelled after him, the hiss set their fur on edge.

The ladybug pokemon shook his head before turning to the ceiling to face the numerous logs which hung from the ceiling, rising and falling as pokemon elsewhere pushed open and closed the door which they made easier to open.

All three of the pokemon turned their heads to the thud as the trap doors by the wall were thrown open to reveal a grizzled, and none too happy sandslash.

"Sache," the ledian broke the silence that followed, "You disappeared a long time ago. Back so soon?" the ledian added on a lighter note.

"We both lost a friend a long time ago," Sache ignored the humour. He made his way across the room with surprising agility, "I was there when he fell, I promised I'd protect his family; I'd failed him."

"You didn't-" the ledian interrupted him.

"Did he not die, did his wife, his child, not fall on that day?" the sandslash roared.

"Yes," the ledian's tone was neutral and unyielding which dismissed the tension which Sache had built.

"Was I not there? Did I not promise?" the sandslash continued; though his tone was quiet and defeated.

"Yes," the ledian admitted, letting a hint of his own defeat in the conversation leak into his voice. He wouldn't be able to alleviate his friend's grief. Only Sache had been there with their friend, so he placed the blame on himself. Arian's, the ledian, eyes seemed to glaze over for a moment as he recalled the day, "You disappeared for thirteen seasons," he cut off any response, "Why come back now?"

Sache didn't reply immediately, his eyes were at his feet as he recalled the memory, "I have a chance to make amends, and I will take it. But I came to ask you, will you stand by me?"

"I always have," Arian replied, allowing himself the smallest hint of a smile.

..-..-..

It was the sandslash from before, he was dragging the mightyena behind him with his claws around it's neck.

"Touch either eevee and I will bury you," his voice was not a shout, but somehow it carried through the arena.

"I've watched you rise, and I'll see you fall," that, however, was a shout. We turned to face a second speaker; from where the arcanine was, oddly enough. We didn't see anything at first except that the red hound reared up, then left his pedestal in an unplanned leap into the arena. In his place stood, or hovered, more accurately, a figure I recognized as the model for the guild building, though he was much slimmer than it made him out to be.

The arcanine was enveloped in the dust which was lifted as he hit the ground. If he had gotten up, he didn't move outside of the dust cloud, and he made no sound to suggest he had.

"Come on, let's go," The sandslash piped up, he'd come up to us while we were focused on the event in the stands. He lifted June over his shoulder and mad a gesture towards the tunnel with his free arm. I nodded back and set pace behind him for the tunnel, "Arian will cover us," he told me.


	13. What Once Was, Once Again

_**What Once Was, Once Again**_

Light was coming into view after a few minutes, and with no sign of pursuit or the ledian who was supposed to hold it back.

"Hurry up!" the shout caught up with us as we broke out into the open, "He's here," the ledian hissed to the sandslash.

"Hmmph," he grunted in response. His features turned to stone as he passed up June to the ledian.

"Hold up," the ledian snapped at him after taking hold of his unexpected charge, "You're not doing that! There is a reason he could kill _him_," he retorted.

"And there is a _reason_ I make my stand today," the sandslash replied evenly.

"He wouldn't want you to die like this," the ledian's tone turned desperate, "Time has not been kind to you, and it has only eased the drapion into his prime."

"Where time is unkind, I am more so," the sandslash told him, "Every day I lived with my burden is another day I learned to bear it better; not because it grew lighter, but because I grew stronger," he told the ledian before reaching up to his shoulder with a paw "They will not pass me 'till the day has gone, but I can promise you no more."

"Then that is time I will use wisely," the ledian conceded his defeated and began to hover away from the building while the sandslash stepped into the tunnel once more. I saw his figure grow as he took a breath, one he expelled suddenly as he forced a claw into the earth between his feet. The ground shook and fissures opened up under the entry to the tunnel. Stones fell from the building and began to blockade its only exit while the fissures grew wider, from between them arose stone walls which completed the blockade and stole from me my view of the sandslash.

"Hurry up," the ledian urged me. I heaved a sigh and a silent wish of luck to the sandslash before hurrying to catch up.

…-…-…

"You know you can't beat me," the sandslash snarled to his as of yet unseen adversary who was still hidden behind a corner.

"Is that so?" it replied in a calm tone which sent doubt through the sandslash, "I recall killing your comrade, why should you be any harder?" he added casually as he, the drapion, turned the corner. He smirked as he saw the sandslash, "No bravado?"

The sandslash had indeed lost his bravado, now replaced by a rigid stance which betrayed his fear to the scorpion standing opposite him. Though his rigid form quickly relaxed, and he put on a smirk of his own while the drapion's vanished.

"You killed my comrade. For that courtesy, I will kill you," he grunted before driving his claw into the dirt. A pair of fissures darted out and hurried towards the drapion, parting a few meters ahead of him before going off to either side, seemingly uselessly.

"Hurry up you useless lot!" another voice called out from the tunnel.

"Ahh, it seems my comrades, all very much alive, are arriving. While they do, your accuracy could do with improvement," the drapion's smirk returned.

"Ohh, I think they will be held back for the moment."

A small pebble fell onto one of the drapion's white whiskers, he merely cast his eyes up before bolting towards the sandslash with surprising speed, his pincers crossed in front of him and glowing an unpleasant purple. The sandslash nodded as the rockslide fell, it hadn't hit the drapion, he never expected it to, but it would hold off the others.

The sandslash growled his defiance and ducked, stabbing his claw into the ground and opening a fissure which ran between the drapion's legs. With the distance between them fast fading, the sandslash twisted his claw and the fissure widened, pulling either half of the drapion's stance away from the other and leaving him stumbling towards the sandslash.

Sache raised a forearm to take the remains of the cross poison before thrusting his free paw into the drapion's side, the pale white claws vanishing into his purple flesh.

"I never miss," Sache replied in an quiet tone as the drapion buckled, letting out nothing more than whimpers with each crimson spray that he coughed up, things he thought were hardly befitting his reputation. He wasn't meant to lose. Not to this sandslash, not to anyone.

"Hurgh!" the grunt started out muffled but managed to break the stone barrier which refused it entry into the last part of the tunnel, with the help of a paw still glowing from the remnants of a white aura.

"It is strange, in every bid for peace we fight," Sache mumbled to his dying adversary as he turned his back on the pokemon breaking through his barricade, "With my second bid, I bid farewell," he told him somewhat louder before lashing out at the ground beneath his feet, each swipe of his claw leaving marks impossibly big as he vanished into his small tunnel which collapsed almost immediately behind him.

…-…-…

"I never knew she was this heavy," the ledian sighed for what was well over the tenth time, because of which a few complaints of my own hovered on my tongue, but remained unspoken.

"In more ways than one," I replied instead, and habit made me clench my teeth together with pre emptive regret to do with the conversation I guessed would follow.

"Yeah," the ledian chuckled, "It's an inherited thing."

My jaw relaxed, it didn't seem he would attack me for every word I spoke, there seemed to be more pokemon like him in my life recently, or, well, of those that do whatever it is June does. I also found myself curious about June and figured this was as good a time as any to find information, he obviously knew her parents.

"Can you tell me about June?" I asked.

"Probably not more than you already know, she tends to be rather open with people, with the facts, at least. Truth is I think she's afraid," he explained, "She's watched her friends and family dwindle and disappear her whole life, it was the hammer blow when she heard her parents' garrison was captured, killed, potentially. She's afraid she's next."

"I can't say I understand," I replied with my nose at my feet, though I could feel the ledian shoot me a momentary glare.

"That's right, Will told me about you…" he paused for a moment before continuing "Well, as much as he knew," the ledian recalled. There was a moment of silence, hardly anything more, before he spoke again, "You know that sandslash?"

"Yeah, he fixed me up and fought the arcanine back in those tunnels," I explained. The answer wasn't as immediate as I expected, the ledian's antennae buzzed as he went over something in his head.

"He disappeared years ago, many years ago, back when June was about half a season old. Back then we thought he was dead, he was among the first people she lost from her life. He was part of a small force which got ambushed and wiped out. With him vanished some others she considered family."

"Brings up a few questions I suppose," I replied.

"Hmm?"

"Is it better to know something and lose it, or never to know it at all," I replied with an unusually philosophical tone.

"Things are good while they last," the ledian sighed, "But they never last forever."

"That just means we can't be miserable forever," I replied in a manner I'd probably picked up from June.

"You sound like her," he grinned.

"You're alive!" Anne yipped halfway through tackling me to the ground, seeing as June was too busy being unconscious to play with her.

"And suddenly I wish I wasn't," I mumbled through the lick she planted on my nose before getting up to let someone else at me. I was beginning to wonder whether the misadventure or the arrival back home was the hard part. Home. Home, the word repeated itself several times in my head before Alex nuzzled my neck and brought me out of my thoughts.

"Welcome back," Will grinned before picking me up in a beartic hug, I noticed Quill behind him rubbing the back of his ear awkwardly with a makeshift grin on his face, at least he would leave me be.

There were countless questions from the other guild members, all answered in the incoherent mumble I adopted when speaking to a crowd, though that seemed to satisfy most of them as each interpreted it to fit their idea of the events.

"Need some air?" Quill whispered from beside me, I nodded immediately which, again, seemed to be a satisfying answer for at least some of the questions being presented to me.

"Hey, Caramel, I need some help for a second," Quill's comment wasn't very loud, but it made its mark and everyone quieted down, some starting to wander off now that the question session was over. I followed Quill over to the medical ward, pushing open the doors with the same ease June had done before entering the maze of alleys which were formed by the beds and cabinets which had been scattered across the room since me and June had left.

"You might want to sleep in here if the dorm seems too crowded," he suggested, "Heh, I wonder what the talk between you two will be like now that you've changed places."

"Good question," I replied as we reached a bed at the far end of the room which seemed to be occupied, the cream colored tail which dangled off the end told me by whom.

"Will and I will keep them out so enjoy the peace, hopefully June can answer the questions for you tomorrow," Quill offered a smile before leaving back the way we came.

I leapt up onto the bed, June was there, curled up and now more sleeping than knocked out. I looked around the bed for a free space, there wasn't much of it since June was left directly in the middle. I could have gone to another bed, truth be told I would much rather have, but she had stayed by my side when I was injured; it seemed a courtesy I should return.

I ended up choosing the space opposite her to sleep, though it left very little space between us, it would have to do. My tail came up between my legs for me to embrace, as I had since before I could remember, before I let myself drift off.

...

Soo... I'm back I guess?

Sorry, it's just been hard to sit down and get back into it... I was stuck on 'In The Fire' for a while with a sort of hole I'd dug for myself with the plot, plus the pace and way I wrote that story was overloading me and I couldn't make any progress. So I switched over to 'Caramel' and it felt so much easier and more relaxed which did wonders for how easy writing it was.

In other news... Things are turning around and I'm officially a post solo pilot! Woot!

I'll try and update more often, I've got back into this sort of stuff again and am starting a Manga based on my Heart Gold nuzlocke soon so I'll let anyone reading know when that's up and running... it should be soon... I'll try and get someone to kick me when I forget about it. I'm also going to do another Manga which I won't go into too much detail about right now due to spoiler reasons and it's easier just to let you read some of it.

In regards to those if someone here could be so kind as to tell me any websites for webcomic hosting and image hosting? Any tips on how to work digital editting software to sharpen up the images and remove smudges etc would be great!

Anyways, another chapter is on the way, this was supposed to be part of the last chapter I think... I don't know... I was working on the next chapter when I noticed a gap in the events between the last chapter and the next chapter so I went digging through my files and found this.


End file.
